Is There Still A Daniel Jackson?
by Meriem Clayton
Summary: Spoiled through Season 9. Daniel requested a leave of absence from the SGC for unknown reasons. When he reestablishes contact, his friends find a man changed almost beyond recognition. Can relationships be reestablished? Will new ones be forged?
1. Chapter 1

This story was written strictly for the purpose of entertainment. No attempt has been made to copyright any characters which may not have been originally created by the author, and no profit is made from this work of fiction. Any original characters and the stories themselves are the property of the author.

As always, thanks to my wonderful betas, Monica and Jess, and the encouragement I have received from so many of those who read my work.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS "Jackson's back," the young woman with sergeant's stripes excitedly told her companion. The other woman was directly in front of Sam in the cafeteria line and her friend had just cut in to join her. Whatever irritation Sam might have felt was overwhelmed by curiosity.

"Jackman? Hugh Jackman, the actor? Back from where? I didn't think he left. Didn't he just get an Academy Award?" her friend asked, not sounding very interested as she perused the desert choices.

"Read my lips," the first woman said. "I said JACKSON."

"There's no need to be belligerent about it. Okay, Jackson. I don't get it."

Her friend smacked her forehead with the heel of her hand. "I forgot. You didn't join the SGC until three months ago. You don't really know much about Daniel Jackson, do you?"

"DANIEL Jackson. I've heard of him. Who hasn't? But you have to admit that Jackson isn't that unusual of a last name. There's Sergeant Jackson up in Payroll, for instance."

"The cute guy with the blonde hair?"

"No," her friend said thoughtfully, finally selecting some chocolate pudding. "The blonde's name is Sorenson."

Sam wanted to scream or bean the woman with her tray. This is what happened to eavesdroppers. They had no control of the conversation they were listening to. Well, she outranked both of them. She'd just ask. There was no telling how long the two of them were going to natter on before they got to the point.

"Excuse me," she said.

The two women looked at her, their expresssions slightly startled and a little guarded. They were, after all, non-commissioned officers and she was an unknown colonel. "Yes, ma'am," one of them answered.

"I couldn't help but overhear you mentioning that Dr. Jackson has returned. Could you tell me what you have heard exactly?"

"Yes, ma'am. I was in the Infirmary right before I came here and I overheard Dr. Lam telling a nurse that she would be busy taking care of Dr. Jackson's physical."

Sam went ahead and took her food, but afterwards could not have told anyone what it was she ate. She was overwhelmed with emotion. Sam had really missed Daniel but she was still angry with him for what she considered near dereliction of duty as well as total abandonment of his friends. Now he was back and she for one wasn't at all sure she was going to welcome him with open arms. If he really was back... Desert girl's friend might not have been the sharpest knife in the drawer. They had both made her wonder about the standards for people being posted to the SGC. Maybe the whole thing had nothing to do with Daniel. Of course, she'd just come on base. There could have been a major buzz and she simply hadn't been here for it.

She should just go to General Landry and ask. Sam ran into the CO of her team, Colonel Cameron Mitchell outside Landry's office. "So, Sam, what do you think of the return of the prodigal?" he asked.

That seemed like confirmation. "So he is back?" she asked.

"He arrived a couple of days ago. I really think it will be good to have him back on SG-1. We've been a three man team for too long."

"He's rejoining SG-1, just like that?"

"Well, he wanted to meet me first, make sure we'd work well together."

"He wanted to meet you?" Sam asked, her voice rising incredulously.

"Carter, what has come over you?" Cam asked. "Do you have a major problem I should know about with Jonas rejoining SG-1? We talked about this two weeks ago before you went off to be incommunicado for a week and you didn't have a problem then."

"Jonas. Jonas is rejoining SG-1," Sam said.

"Sam, the only other two people who could conceivably rejoin SG-1 are General O'Neill and Daniel Jackson, on account of how you have to be a member in the first place who left. O'Neill is, frankly, a little old for the front lines and Daniel isn't here."

Drat that girl. If I ever find her again, I'll throttle her, she ranted to herself. Lord knows what she heard in the Infirmary. And you, Sam, are a stupid idiot. Do you want him to come back so badly that you are willing to believe any lame thing you hear? Wouldn't Jack just love it if he knew about your reaction? Ever since she'd accidentally called Jack by Daniel's name for reasons that were a mystery to her while they were cuddled up in each other's arms watching a DVD, he'd been giving her the third degree about their absent friend. "Right. I'm looking forward to seeing Jonas again. I guess when you discussed this with me earlier, I thought it was an extremely speculative conversation and I had more or less forgotten all about it. Where is he anyway?"

"I'm not sure. I haven't seen him this morning. Jonas has guest quarters for the moment. Maybe he went down there. I guess you haven't been in long enough to read your e-mail. You got to know with something like this, there has been a ton and a half of e-mail."

"Actually I was hungry and I went straight to the cafeteria."

"That's more like the definition of starving, if you're drawn to that place," Mitchell observed.

"You are just bitter because they can't figure out biscuits," Sam said affectionately. "You doing anything?" She had really come to appreciate the guy's sunny disposition, energy, and optimism about most things anyway. He took biscuits quite seriously.

"We've got a meeting with the delegation from P5L903 in about an hour. I've been preparing for that. You haven't read that e-mail either? Of course not," he said, answering his own question. "I'm ready for it, but you need to read the background stuff for the meeting."

"Want to take a walk with me first to the infirmary? I just heard something really crazy and I know I'm a fool for even checking it out but…"

He fell in beside her. "You'll get back to your office and read that e-mail on the delegation after okay?" She nodded. "So what did you hear?"

"Is the delegation the only non-SGC to come through the gate this morning?" she asked.

"Yes. What did you hear? You're starting to make me crazy, Carter."

"Some woman in the cafeteria line said that Daniel Jackson, OUR Daniel Jackson, was in the Infirmary. I can tell from your face you don't know anything about it."

"I found an empty conference room to take care of the prebriefing reading and some other stuff. I get too many interruptions in my office." He looked at her thoughtfully. "You thought I meant him when I was talking about Jonas."

They entered the infirmary to find it with several filled beds, but no Daniel Jackson. Cam shrugged and said, "Off to the salt mines with you, Colonel. Meeting with the delegation in less than an hour."

Carolyn Lam emerged from her office before they left and said, "I thought I heard your voices. Quite a shock, isn't it?"

"Daniel?" Sam took a guess. What else could Carolyn be talking about?

"Yeah. I had no idea he was expected or anything and boom there he is with his son, wanting me to do the necessary tests so he and the boy can be cleared to leave the Mountain."

"His son?" Sam said.

Carolyn laughed. "Daniel's changed, I mean, really changed."

"Where did he go?" Sam asked. "I thought he was here."

"They just left. He said they had been given guest quarters."

"Tell us more. How has he changed?" Sam asked. Before she could answer, they suddenly heard rushing feet coming down the hall and two emergency techs rushed in with an injured man on a gurney and his entire SG team trailing along in concern. The two regrouped in the hall. "Cameron, I know you want me to go read that memo, but can I please have just a little more time to pursue this? Maybe you can fill me in from what you read for the meeting."

"I'm curious too," he admitted, and you're just in the meeting as an observer anyway." He started to walk rapidly with her toward the elevators. "Okay, here it is. This planet has a stargate and was contacted by the Atlantis team initially right after Daniel got there. They're one of the nexus planets whose stargates provide ready access without exceptional power needs both to our ring of stargates and those in the Pegasus galaxy."

Sam interjected impatiently, "No offense, but I'm the astrophysicist who worked all of that out three years ago."

"Right. Daniel was part of that first contact team, interestingly enough. Anyway, the first contact went rather badly. Daniel went back there with a team several months later to try to patch things up. That was when he requested the leave of absence. We really want a relationship with them because they have some extremely advanced biotech."

Sam raised her eyebrows. "I was so pissed at Daniel for the leave of absence, heck for even going to Atlantis--despite whatever appropriate noises I might have made at the time--I never bothered to find out any of the details. This couldn't be a coincidence. Maybe Daniel's here with the delegation."

Cam shook his head. "The delegation is the King, the Regent, two members of their ruling council, and two bodyguards. Hard to fit him into any of those roles, but it is a huge coincidence otherwise, isn't it?"

"He could be on the ruling council," she said.

"They are both quite elderly," Cam said. "The Linteri made specific requests for amenities for them that were related to their age."

"Bodyguard?" Cam suggested. They looked at each other dubiously.

When they reached the hall where the guest quarters were situated, they were greeted by the uncharacteristic wail of a small child. A man's voice was muttering soothing things in a foreign tongue. They didn't know the language, but they did know the voice. The door to the second suite was open and they found Sgt. Walter Harriman, a squalling tiny boy, and Daniel. Daniel had just switched to English. "I can not blame him for being upset. This place is very," he hesitated, "lacking in color and texture compared to what he used to." Sam had the distinct feeling he was thinking something like this place is butt ugly compared to what he's used to. "Everything is strange for him."

The little boy noticed them before Daniel. His big blue eyes, just like Daniel's, fixed on the newcomers and he stopped crying abruptly. "Da?" he said questioningly.

Daniel looked up and met their eyes, his face, not unfriendly, but almost as if he were looking at strangers. Sam certainly felt that she was looking at a stranger. His hair was long and in a braid hanging down his back. There was a gold earring in each ear and a scar slashed through his right eyebrow and stood out dramatically against his pale skin. He's not a pretty boy any more, Jack, Sam thought, remembering one of Jack's pithier comments just the previous weekend. Daniel dropped his eyes for a moment to the child and smiled at him. It was a beautiful smile and the little boy smiled back and reached up his arms. Daniel scooped him up and came toward them at last.

"It's been a long time," Mitchell said.

Daniel nodded in acknowledgement. "I hope you are well. You too Samantha." His words were oddly formal as if he was translating into English from another language. A slow, appreciative smile graced his face as he looked at Sam, looked at all of her. Sam had had men look at her like this before, but never Daniel. "I had forgotten how truly beautiful you are," he said, completely taking her aback.

"It's good to see you," Sam said. She thought it best to ignore the complement. Her manner was a little stiff, but she couldn't help it. She wanted her Daniel back. Instead of glasses and a BDU, this one had on a cloak made from some fabulous blue fabric, tight leather pants and high boots out of soft as butter looking brown leather. His hands sported several magnificent rings and a pendant with an outrageously large sapphire, if that's what it was, hung around his neck on a heavy gold chain. 

"I would like you to meet my son, Davi," Daniel said. He looked down at the little boy and said their names in the midst of several unfamiliar words. The little boy blessed them with his beatific smile. "I know I need to start teaching him English," he said more to himself than to them.

"You're with the delegation that's here from P5L903?" Mitchell asked for confirmation. When Daniel nodded, he asked, "So after they finish the negotiations, will you be staying?"

"I have gone ahead and gotten the necessary tests done so that I can show my son the planet where I was born before we go home. It is most likely that he will never have another opportunity."

"Jonas has taken your slot on SG-1," Sam said, baldly. She was appalled at the words as soon as they were out. It was as if there was an evil Sam inside who wanted to hurt Daniel, to show him that he couldn't hurt people and just waltz back.

"So I hear," Daniel said. His tone was mild. He looks, God help me, Sam thought, amused, as if he can read my mind. "I am glad that you have such an able team member."

He turned and looked at Walter. "I am most appreciative for everything you have done to help us become comfortable." He bowed slightly.

Sam thought, He is reminding me rather forcefully of Teal'c.

He turned back to Mitchell and Sam. "I am about to take Davi to the cafeteria and introduce him to Jell-O. I believe we have about 30 minutes before the meeting. Not that it matters--they can't very well start without us. If you will be so kind as to excuse us?" It came out with a very compelling note of command, the way a man speaks who is used to his word being law.

He hadn't seen her for more than three years and he was making polite excuses. She wasn't going to be brushed off so easily. "Why don't we come with you? I have a million questions." First off, she wanted to know where he fit in the delegation since it was hard to see a bodyguard functioning with his son in tow and he clearly wasn't elderly.

Again she caught the amused expression. "I can imagine that you do."

As they walked to the cafeteria, the little boy watched everything with great interest, but Sam noticed that he never let go of his father. Daniel murmured something to him occasionally in his language. Sam asked, "So, Daniel. We're trying to fit you into a delegation that is supposed to be the Regent, the King, two elderly councilors, and two bodyguards. Are you ex officio members of the delegation that just didn't rate a mention?"

"We do not look like bodyguards?" Daniel asked, sounding amused. They waited but he said nothing else.

Sam thought about pushing that question, but knew they'd have the answer soon enough anyway. "If I might ask," she said, going for a more difficult to determine answer, "where's his mother?"

"She is lost," he said. Daniel's face was shuttered and there was nothing to read there, not grief or bitterness or fond regret.

"Oh," was all Sam could come up with. She cast around for something to say.

Mitchell took care of the lull first. "I have a question of my own. Just what have you been doing all this time?"

"Taking care of my people," was the unhelpful answer.

"Is everything we want to know about the past three years going to be like pulling teeth with you?" Mitchell asked with a touch of asperity.

"Yes," Daniel said, but softened it with another of those brilliant smiles.

The little boy clapped his hands when he saw the Jell-O. "Jell-O, Da," he said. Apparently his father had been telling him stories about Tauri Jell-O. There was a lot of deliberation in that melodic foreign tongue and eventually the child selected red.

Daniel put the little boy on a chair and was still standing, having just put down the tray, when a soldier hurrying to get past, brushed him from behind. So rapidly that Sam couldn't have exactly said how it happened, Daniel had pivoted and had the soldier in an arm lock with a knife at his throat. All noise in the big room stopped. Mitchell said, "Daniel!" sharply just as Daniel himself realized how inappropriately he had reacted.

Rather than apologizing, Daniel said to the soldier, "Don't ever come up behind me like that again."

The man, a very young soldier, looked at him wide-eyed and then consciously straightened up, put on a cocky attitude, and walked off broadcasting the attitude, "I'm a tough guy and that didn't phase me."

"An apology would have been nice and what the hell were you thinking?" Sam snapped.

"It has been inappropriate to my position to apologize for three years. I am afraid I am out of practice. He should not have come up behind me like that." Daniel looked back at her with unblinking arrogance, so unlike her Daniel that it hurt her heart.

The little boy had barely paid attention when his father had held a knife at a man's throat. Sam asked herself, What has this child seen? 


	2. Chapter 2

Not recommended for S/J shippers

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

The atmosphere as they finished up their Jello-O was strained. Those sitting at the tables around them had been staring at them, mostly covertly, from the time they entered the dining room. Daniel was dressed like someone going to a Renaissance fair and there was the atypical presence of a child. After the incident with the knife, politeness evaporated and people just stared openly and with a certain hostility. The staff of the SGC didn't take kindly to people holding knives on their co-workers. Cam doubted that very many of them recognized Daniel. There had been such general respect and fondness for him three years ago, there might have been excuses made if they had.

Once they had finished, Daniel stood and picked up his son. He started to walk away, leaving his dishes behind. Sam said, "Are you too good to bus your dishes now?"

She really wasn't taking his return well, Cam thought. He wasn't sure he had the why of it totally figured out. He waited with interest to see what Daniel would do. "It didn't occur to me," he said. "A thousand pardons." He bowed slightly, shifted the child to one hip, and gathered everything up on the tray which he carried to the busing station with one hand.

They made unhurried progress up to the level of the conference room. Cam wasn't worried about being late. He had keyed in on Daniel's comment about the meeting not starting without him. He had a wild suspicion about Daniel's role in the delegation, but it was so wild he didn't want to voice it.

They entered the conference room, Mitchell and Sam going first. Inside two elderly but vigorous men were seated at the table with General Landry and a member of the State Department. Cam thought, the special accommodations for the councilors were more likely as a sign of respect than from infirmity. Two very large bodyguards stood relaxed but ready on either side of the room. When Daniel and his son entered, the councilors rose and bowed slightly, while the bodyguards executed very deep bows. Daniel acknowledged the signs of respect with a regal nod and seated himself at the table between the two councilors, his son on his lap. Sam and Mitchell took chairs next to Landry.

Landry said, "Dr. Jackson it's good to see you again. Your councilors have explained your role on their world to us. Would you prefer that I address you by your Linteri title?"

Daniel smiled pleasantly. "It is of little matter. Dr. Jackson is fine." He then translated the exchange for the benefit of his party.

Mitchell nudged Sam. Her mouth was hanging open. She closed it and tried to make her face expressionless. She wasn't doing very well, he thought.

"And this young man would be the King?" Landry asked, smiling at Davi.

"Yes," Daniel said. "May I introduce you to King Davi." The little boy smiled at them, unimpressed by his own importance.

So he was right, Cam thought triumphantly. Daniel is the Regent. He knew from the background material he had received that the Regent was an absolute ruler. It mattered little that he was not the King, except that he would eventually have to step down in favor of his son. That was at least 16 years away though.

The negotiations progressed with Daniel stopping to translate every few sentences. The councilors spoke only very occasionally and Daniel never translated their words back into English. It gradually became apparent that things were not going well. Eventually, Daniel said, "It appears to me, General, that the Tauri are prepared to offer the equivalent of junk jewelry to my people in exchange for biological technology that would be of great value to you. We are not naïve late stone people prepared to sell you Manhattan for a few glass beads. I suggest we adjourn this meeting and your government consider what else it is prepared to offer. My son and I wish to see something of the planet. We can reconvene in three days and see if anything has changed." He translated all this, leaving Landry and the State Department representative, Martin Johnson, without an opening to speak until he finished.

"See here, Dr. Jackson, we are not going to be blackmailed by anyone. I would also suggest that you remember who you are and where your loyalties belong," Johnson said, as soon as he had an opportunity.

Daniel stood. His eyes flashed. "I know quite well who I am. I am responsible first and foremost for the King and secondly for the well-being of His people. We will be returning through the gate immediately. Do not think to interfere with us. We have biological weapons on our persons that will not harm us but will kill everyone within a large radius if we choose to use them."

Although the bodyguards had not understood his words, they had understood his body language. They moved forward and radiated menace. The councilors stood swiftly and the entire party prepared to leave the conference room.

Johnson looked ashen. He had completely miscalculated to whom he was speaking. "My words were ill-advised and I apologize for any offense. It is just that we believe that this agreement is very important to both our worlds. Please sit back down and let us try to find a compromise."

"I think not," Daniel said. His eyes bored into the State Department representative. He had never taken them off him since the man had made the comment about his loyalties.

Landry spoke, "Dr. Jackson, it truly would be in your interest as well as ours to continue to talk. Could we consider some future meeting?"

Daniel relaxed slightly. He looked briefly, if unreadably, at Mitchell and Sam. "If you wish to send SG-1 to us in one week's time, we would be willing to continue to talk with them. I would ask that they be appropriately empowered for such dealings."

Daniel and the Linterians did leave then, walking through the gate without a backwards glance. As he had passed Sam and Mitchell leaving the conference room, Daniel had said, quietly, "It was a pleasure to see you. Please give my respects to Teal'c, General Hammond, Jack, and Carolyn."

As they reconvened for a post-mortem and planning for the next steps with Tealc now included in the deliberations, Cam brought up that farewell. "There must still be some of Daniel left under all that for him to have made that personal statement."

"The man is a damn traitor," Johnson said.

"I don't know about that," Landry said. Cam was a little surprised at his defense of Daniel. "He wasn't so much working against our best interests as he was trying to protect theirs. To be completely honest, we weren't offering them very much, were we?"

Eventually Johnson left. The others were still sitting in the conference room. They had dealt with many shocks and surprises over the years, but this one was near the top.

Sam said, "I didn't want to say anything in front of that ass from the State Department, but I think I understand some of this. Daniel had a terrible childhood because his grandfather refused to take him after his parents died. Probably the single most important thing to him would be that no child of his be left to the mercy of who knows what because he refused to be there for him. I bet you anything that he had some brief thing with, I don't know, the Crown Princess or something, and when he went back he found out she was pregnant. He took the leave of absence so as to not abandon the child."

Mitchell added, "He did say that the mother was gone, whatever that meant."

"It's not like the kid would be out on the street," Landry said, wryly.

"No, but he could have come under control of a Regent who didn't have his best interests at heart, maybe one who would see to it that he didn't make it to adulthood so that the Regent never had to relinquish power."

"Will it really make any difference for us to go in a week for negotiations as DanielJackson suggested," Teal'c asked, "if the government does not approve any other offer?"

Landry chewed his lip and then said, "I'm sure they'll up the ante a little and, if you are there, maybe you can eventually get through to Daniel, remind him of who he really is and who we really are. Even if we don't have the most advantageous deal with them, still all the planets that don't include the Wraith or the Ori or others of that ilk need to bond together."

Mitchell, Teal'c, and Sam went to Sam's equipped with a couple of six-packs of beer that evening. They couldn't seem to stop talking about Daniel and the situation, turning it over and looking underneath to try to understand. Cam brought up one additional detail they hadn't talked about yet. "Teal'c you should have seen the once over he gave Sam when we first saw him. He made some comment about how beautiful she was too."

Sam muttered, "It was really weird and I wish he hadn't of done it."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly. "Do you really think that is the first time he noticed what you look like, ColonelCarter?"

"What are you talking about, Teal'c?" Sam protested. "Daniel was always my best friend. We were completely comfortable around each other. Sex never got in the way."

Teal'c said, reminding Cam that he frequently didn't give Teal'c credit for just how perceptive he really was, "Perhaps, he simply never told you of his interest or allowed it to show because he thought you would not welcome it. Now he cares little for what anyone thinks and he is used to taking what he wants."

Sam was just staring at him. Cam said, "You know, when we go there in a week, if Teal'c is at all likely to be right, you best work out how you're going to handle it."

Teal'c said, "I have been around many absolute rulers. You do not simply tell someone like that to how do you say it, 'Bug off.'"

Sam said, "THIS IS DANIEL, people."

They all sat for a moment, drinking their beer, totally engaged in this novel scenario. Cam thought, it's interesting to me Sam that you seem to find sex and friendship incompatible. Makes me wonder about your dynamic with Jack. Maybe that's just sex. When he thought about how little the two were likely to have in common, that made a great deal of sense. He lamented that women were such complex creatures, at least the women he seemed to end up dealing with. Carolyn Lam was the center of most of his fantasies, but he couldn't get anywhere with her. She had so many issues from her relationship with her father, her parents failed marriage, and her own brief and disastrous marriage during medical school, that she didn't seem to be able to have a relationship under any rules he could accept. The three month disaster between them a year ago proved that. The wild thought occurred to him—Daniel found someone on that planet, maybe I can too. Right, he thought, next you're going to be reading romance novels.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

When Cam and Teal'c had left, Sam called Jack. It was late by then, but Jack didn't seem to get more than five hours of sleep on the average and often called Sam virtually in the middle of the night. It didn't seem to occur to him that maybe she might be sleeping.

"Did you hear about Daniel?" she asked.

Jack had made sure that he was in the pipeline for any interesting information from the Mountain. "He was back, he was mean, and he left." Jack sounded a little strange. The words were the usual sarcasm, but she thought she detected a something upset or uncomfortable. She decided to go with the flow, rather than ask him directly. That usually didn't work anyway.

"Not exactly," she answered.

"He was definitely back and he's definitely gone, so you must be quibbling about the 'he was mean.'"

"Look, we weren't making a particularly advantageous offer to them and Daniel knows enough about us to spot it, that's all."

Jack exploded, "Sam, the man is one of us. He should be protecting us before he protects some benighted group of aliens."

Sam was troubled. She could understand where Jack was coming from, where the State Department representative had been coming from, but it didn't seem quite that simple to her. "Jack, Daniel's been ascended and even before that, he was always one to look for some greater justice, right? He never wanted us to take advantage of anyone. He was our conscience, remember?"

"So how did he look?"

Sam was a little bewildered by the sudden change of subject. "He looked fine, I guess. Healthy."

"Healthy, but not hot?"

"Jack, we've had this discussion more than I really want to. I have no idea why I accidentally called you Daniel, one time, ONE TIME. Believe me, I didn't think 'hot' when I looked at him. To tell you the honest truth, I mostly felt sad. He didn't look like our Daniel at all what with the long hair and the earrings and the flowing cloak."

"Sounds like he looked like a damn girl," Jack said.

Sam thought about correcting him, but was quite honestly tired of the whole entire discussion. "Look, Jack, I have to there in a week and deal with him. I don't think this conversation is going to help me do that."

Jack was silent for a moment and Sam thought she heard a voice at his end, someone talking to him. Jack said, sounding very sad, "Look, Sam, it seems like there's a lot lately that you aren't very happy with me about. I wrote you a letter, but since you haven't mentioned it, I guess you haven't gotten it."

"Noooo," Sam replied. She had a sick feeling, but no choice but to ride it out.

"We need some time apart. We need to see other people. It's in the letter," Jack said.

"Would one of the other people by any chance be there right now?" Sam asked.

"Sam, I'm sorry if I hurt you," and he did sound very sorry, "but this is best for both of us." She said nothing and he sighed and hung up.

She had the strangest sensation. She was feeling very emotional, that was a given, but what was the emotion? She couldn't be sure. It wasn't overwhelming, devastating sorrow. It wasn't even anger, despite the fact that he obviously hadn't let the bed cool between lovers. Puzzling over it, she went to bed and, to her surprise, fell asleep quickly. She dreamed that she was going through an immense building, a palace, looking for Daniel. She kept opening doors but she couldn't find him. She woke up in a sweat wondering if he was really there to find and why, in her dream, she never looked for Jack.


	3. Chapter 3

Two days after the failed summit with the Linteri, Landry and SG-1 stood in the gateroom waiting to welcome an important Linteri visitor. The gate activated and a burly bodyguard stepped through and took up a useless but impressive defensive pose. Moments later, a lovely woman in a flowing dress strewn with an impossible number of what appeared to be precious stones, took a confidant step onto the ramp. She moved, processed really, down the ramp and unerringly identified Landry as the highest ranking official present.

She inclined her head ever so slightly, her long earrings set with several flawless diamonds swaying with the movement, and said in perfect but accented English, "I am Elspetha, grandmother of King Davi of the Linteri, mother-in-law to the Regent, his Grace Danyal. You are?"

Landry was looking at her, definitely bowled over by her beauty, but fighting it. Up close she was flawlessly lovely. Perhaps forty years and a few more of life had only enhanced the perfect bone structure under the smooth cameo skin. Her hair was lustrous and hung like a river down her back, a shimmering fall of black. Her figure was voluptuous enough to appeal to the inner beast in every man, but still slender enough to be consistent with the image of the perfect lady she was effortlessly projecting. Finally the general fumbled through the introductions.

She said, "You are wondering why I am here."

Cam spoke up, just as stunned by her beauty as Landry, but better at playing the game and not giving the advantage to the woman of knowing that she had him at hello. "Honestly, we were curious. Dr. Jackson did not give any indication there would be any contact prior to our trip there next week."

"His Grace, Danyal, has decided that I am to be your guide through the dangerous shoals of our world. He has sent me to prepare you for your visit so that your chances of navigating without disaster would be increased." She fixed a liquid gaze from large, deep green eyes on Landry. "Would it be presumptuous if I were to seek the accommodations of a guest for myself and the bodyguard that custom require I bring until your people travel through the circle to my world?"

"Of course not. We have only simple accommodations, but you are more than welcome, Queen Elspetha."

She tilted her head and laughed. Her laughter was musical and all the men in the vicinity were immediately ensnared in it. "If you would but call me Lady Elspetha, it would be more consistent with our custom. I have no real position but what His Grace Danyal grants me."

She reached out a hand weighted down with three large rings, exquisite despite their size, and placed it on Cam's arm. "If you would but take me to these guest quarters, kind sir, I would refresh myself. Perhaps we could then meet, all who would go to my world, later today and talk?"

Cam nodded. "It would be my pleasure, Lady Elspetha. Carter, could you arrange a conference room and so forth for a meeting at 15:00 hours?"

He saw Sam's eyes flash a little. He might be in command, but, in most respects, they functioned as peers and she didn't appreciate being treated like a secretary. He gave her a rueful look and hoped that she read it as an apology, then turned and gave Lady Elspetha the due she demanded.

The meeting at 15:00 hours was a revelation. Sam was sitting ramrod straight in her chair and Cam knew immediately she didn't like this woman. Everything about Lady Elspetha screamed out "ornament" and Sam was all about a woman being intelligent and an equal partner. Teal'c was giving nothing away, but Cam knew that he had encountered the Lady's like over and again in female system lords and others born to the aristocracy. 

Lady Elspetha laid her world out for them with an economy of perfectly chosen English words. She quickly explained that she knew English because it had amused his Grace Danyal to teach her and it gave them a secret language in which they could speak in confidence. Her humor, although dry, was always present, which was all the more amazing given the nightmarish sounding world she described to SG-1. Trust was hard to come by, although your blood relations were a slightly safer bet than everyone else. King Davi had already lived longer than all in recorded history before him who had become kings as infants. She told them, "The first thing I taught His Grace Danyal was to put himself first because everyone else would. Anything else would be seen as weakness and the rest of the court was circling, looking for an opening to go for the throat. It was a hard lesson for him, but it was imperative that he learn. If he had remained as he was when he came to us as prophesied, he would be dead long ago as would my grandson. I myself would not have survived because I gave him my allegiance."

Sam said, carefully, "When we knew him, Daniel was a very caring man. It was very important to him that things be fair, that no one be used or exploited. He was our conscience."

Lady Elspetha said simply, "You cannot be a conscience if you are dead."

Cam found that he could not take his eyes off Elspetha. He had dated a couple of homecoming queens, but he had never been inches away from such total perfection. He exercised the greatest self-discipline of his life to give none of that away. By the time the day arrived to go to Linter, he had succeeded in peaking her interest. She was so obviously flirting with him that even Teal'c commented on it.

"I will show you my world, my Cameron," she said softly, "but you must promise never to relax in it. Do not trust anyone, even His Grace Danyal, even me." She brushed his face with a touch so feather light that he was almost unsure that it had happened. "You are too beautiful to waste."

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSs

The Linteri stargate turned out in a walled enclosure near Daniel's palace. There were guards in turrets at each corner and huge guns trained on the gate from every direction. Nothing could have come through unscathed unless the Linteri has permitted it.

They were conducted to Daniel's audience chamber by an armed guard of beautiful men. They all had dark brown hair and eyes and regular features. They were built like Greek gods and very close to the same height. Lady Elspetha saw Sam looking at them appreciatively and chuckled. "This is the first day guard. The guard tomorrow is all blonde. The next day, they are dark skinned and black haired and so on. Have I named a preference of yours yet?" Sam was revolted. She was a soldier. The thought of turning soldiers into eye candy was not appealing.

They moved through a few acres of beautifully landscaped grounds before entering the palace proper and then through what seemed like acres of palace to reach the audience chamber. Immediately before they entered, Lady Elspetha said, "His Grace Danyal wishes you to be respected. It will diminish his consequence since he treats with you if you are not. Do not apologize, do not look down before anyone but him. Do not allow anyone to treat you as inferior. It is within your right to strike someone if they insult you, but not to use a weapon. Do not hesitate to strike out if required. You will not be understood otherwise." Before they had left Earth, she had tried to make them see that Daniel could treat them as near equals which would go a long way to keeping them safe, but he did not have the option of treating them as the true equals they felt themselves to be. Someone would likely to want to see them dead for the insult, not to Daniel, but to the throne, the symbol of what they were as a people.

The audience chamber was long and narrow with huge windows along one side stretching from the floor to the two storey tall ceiling. A wide balcony, entered from doors on the floor above, ran along the wall opposite the windows. A few chairs were arranged there, but the balcony was empty. The courtiers in the chamber all stood; the only seat of any kind was the gold-inlaid throne at the far end where Daniel sat, apparently relaxed.

They moved down the hall at the stately pace set by Lady Elspetha. Like her, they did not look at the people they passed, but kept their eyes fixed ahead to the throne. Reaching it, they bowed to the small degree she had taught them. Daniel smiled warmly at them and said, "Greetings worthy representatives of the Tauri. Do you bring me a new offer from your government?"

Cam told the handsome leather case from under his arm and held it out to Daniel. There was an intake of breath behind them. Cam flushed and pulled it back. Daniel said, in an even voice that was not unkind but could have been construed as slightly patronizing, "You are new to the court and cannot be expected to know all the rules. I know that you are all quite intelligent. I am confident that you will learn them quickly."

Cam bowed slightly at the left-handed compliment. A body guard emerged from the shadows a few feet away and took the case. He returned two minutes later, bowed deeply, and handed it to Daniel. Daniel opened it and scanned the contents in a matter of seconds. He closed it, extended it, and immediately a courtier appeared to take charge of it.

"Thank you for the offer. I will consider it and we can discuss it in due time. We would like you to join us for dinner tonight," he said. "There is much I would like to hear of the Tauri and your lives. Appropriate clothing will be provided for you although it will be difficult to find anything that is worthy of beauty like yours, Sam." He looked at her approvingly. It wasn't a leer, but it was definitely a look of genuine appreciation. There was a very faint murmur behind them. Others had noticed his interest in her. "I will look forward to your company with pleasure."

None of them had spoken a word, but their audience was over. Daniel said to Elspetha in English, "I have need of you. Please join me after you have conducted our guests to their accommodations."

She bowed, the picture of grace, and a small smile passed between them. Then she turned and led them out of the audience hall.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Sam stood on a small balcony outside her exquisitely appointed room looking down on a sparkling sea. The palace stretched an impossible distance on either side of her and there were four stories below her. Daniel's palace had hundreds of rooms. He didn't know how many and seemed to find it amusing that she was even curious. "I have all the rooms I need. What else care I?" he asked her as they all sat at the state banquet on their first evening, the night before.

Cam came out behind her and said softly. "It's too beautiful to be real, isn't it?"

"It isn't real, Cameron," she said. "It's a façade. These people are only physically beautiful. It seems to be all they care about. It almost seems like the main driver for the biotechnology they have developed was beauty. Even health is only important because it contributes to beauty. Their physical setting is beautiful, their clothing is magnificent, but they're hollow people."

"Rotted sepulchers," he said.

"Whatever. I asked Daniel why he had kept the scar on this face. No one, I mean no one else here, has a scar."

"That was nervy," he said, a little concerned. He was in charge of the mission and he'd never, before this, ever had to worry about Sam as a loose cannon.

"You're thinking I should have kept my mouth shut?"

"Now that you ask. Sam, our mission here is first and foremost to get the treaty concluded. Finding the real Daniel Jackson comes second. He was my friend too, you know that, but he's also a grown man who made a very deliberate decision to be where he is today, literally sitting on top of the world."

They both looked down at the breathtaking view from Daniel's palace, built at the top of the highest point in its capital city. There was one story above them and all of it belonged exclusively to Daniel, his son, and a handful of those who served him the most closely. Lady Elspetha's rooms were up there.

"Do you want to hear what he said?" she asked. He nodded. "He said that he had the scar because he can do anything he wants. He cares only about pleasing the King and the King would be upset if his father's face suddenly changed."

Cam turned and leaned against the balustrade. "Any other intel you haven't shared with me yet?"

"Not really intel, but I have a theory," she said. He cocked her head. "I think he's already made up his mind about our offer. He just can't give us an immediate decision because it would make him look weak somehow."

"I have a theory too or, actually, it's Teal'c's theory, and Jonas and I agree. He thinks Daniel has plans for you and he's going to keep us here until he's executed them."

"Based on what?" she asked, both exasperated and irritated. "He's not a Goa'uld system lord. He may have picked up this 'look at me' persona but I don't think he's turned into some sort of monster. Teal'c is basing all this on Daniel telling me I'm beautiful, something he wasn't even there to hear."

"I was and there's also that remark in the audience chamber. I give it even odds," Cam said, very seriously, "even though I agree that's he's no monster. He's the best thing that's ever happened to them from what I've been able to pick up. Think Peter the Great of Russia. He can't just turn them overnight into a democracy. He can only move as fast as they can handle it and as far as he retains the power he needs to make the changes stick and preserve the option to make more of them. But I'm not done with our original topic yet. As I told you before we came, figure out how you're going to play it if he does make a move. You won't have time to dither about it then."

"Dither," she said. She raised an eyebrow, thinking that Cam had overstepped his bounds, going from her CO to something else.

"Sam, I'm going to make a personal comment and you're going to listen. All I have seen from you as far as men are concerned is dithering. Why do you think Daniel went to Atlantis in the first place?" Her glare was impressive but he continued. "He got sick and tired of your on, again mating dance with Jack."

She raised a hand to stop him mid-flow, "For your information, there is no more mating dance with Jack."

Cam looked sympathetic but only for a moment. "I'm sorry Sam that it didn't work out, but that actually only makes you more vulnerable now if you're on the rebound. I think Daniel had a thing for you and he just gave up and went to Atlantis. So, Lt. Colonel, think about it. The man has all the power in this world and if he decided to close the gate to us, it would be no easy task for anyone to come here and do anything about it. I don't think he's become cruel, but he may have bought into the local myths about him."

Cam got in her face at this point. "I've intel too. Did you know that the law is that every woman on this planet belongs to Daniel, if he wants to claim her, with the sole exception of blood kin closer than second cousins. It doesn't matter if she's married and it doesn't matter how old she is. Elspetha was 17 and had just been married to a nice young man when the King saw her. He had her brought to this palace and never let her leave. He didn't marry her and she wasn't the only woman he appropriated. She was just the only one to bear him a viable heir that survived infancy."

Sam felt sick. "That's rape. Has Daniel … ever … I mean?"

"I know what you mean. If he has, Elspetha didn't mention it. Damn his eyes, sometimes I think he's got something going on with her."

Sam was irritated enough with him for his personal comments to her that she snapped, "Maybe your whole problem with Daniel is just plain old jealousy. Your tongue has been hanging so far out of your mouth around Elspetha she's been using it as a leash."

Cam shook his head slightly, granting her the right to get in a sally of her own. "Think about it, Lt. Colonel. That's an order." 


	4. Chapter 4

As the sun went down they prepared for dinner. Tonight, they were asked to come to the royal suite on the floor above them. A more intimate meal was evidently planned than the preceding evening when they shared their dinner with Daniel and 500 of his closest friends in the cavernous banquet hall with its peculiar echoes. The clothes brought to them were simpler, although still of soft, lustrous fabric that clung to them like a benediction. They convened in their common room and looked at each other.

"For a dress that covers you up so thoroughly," Jonas said, eyeing her floor length gown, "it certainly exposes a lot of acreage below your neck."

Sam blushed and the blush bloomed all the way down the expanse of exposed creamy white skin. Cam looked at Jonas warningly. He didn't always think before he spoke. "That looks exactly like the sort of thing Elspetha wears. Sam'll fit right in."

Teal'c cleared his throat and said, "ColonelMitchell, perhaps ColonelCarter does not want to look like the Lady Elspetha."

It was Cam's turn to flush just a bit. He felt, and justifiably so, that Teal'c seemed to have decided to make a personal crusade out of ragging him every way he could about Elspetha. 

The lady in question appeared at that moment, almost as if she had been summoned by the mere invocation of her name. She looked them over approvingly, particularly Sam and Mitchell.

"His Grace Danyal will be most pleased at my selection for you Colonel Carter," she said. "You should always wear blue." She slipped a hand through Cam's arm and purred to him softly and privately, "You look as handsome as His Grace but we won't tell him that."

She conducted them to the top floor, past three different sets of guards, and into an intimate dining room. Daniel awaited them alone. He sat relaxed in a large chair with arms. A glass of wine dangled loosely in his fingers.

"Greetings," he said and his voice conveyed real pleasure to see them although he did not stand. Elspetha crossed the room to his side. He took her hand and pulled her toward him slightly so they could kiss each other's checks. He murmured something to her in Linteri and smiled brilliantly up into his eyes. She poured wine from the decanter in front of Daniel into heavy glasses identical to the one Daniel toyed with but still had not drunk from. After she served them, he poured a glass for her. They had absorbed enough Linteri culture to realize that he did her great honor and that he was telling them that, although he allowed her to serve them, she was not inferior.

He saw them hesitating, standing in the middle of the room, and said, "Do not stand on ceremony. Unless the servants are in the room, act as you would back on Earth. Elspetha is the one person on this planet other than my son that I trust completely, even though she keeps trying to tell me that I should not." He smiled at her with great fondness and she reached over and fleetingly squeezed his hand.

Daniel was not at the round marble dining table, but rather seated in a small conversational area in a large alcove to one side and they joined him there. A low table holding a tray of various finger foods sat in the middle of the chairs. Jonas immediately helped himself to a morsel, tasted it experimentally, looked pleasantly surprised, and helped himself to more. Daniel laughed a little. "The food last night was of the quality one can afford to serve to 500 people. You will eat much better tonight."

Cam dared say, "So your pockets are not bottomless."

Daniel said, "They are—in essence everything on this planet belongs to me--but if I reach deep, there is nothing at all left in someone else's pocket."

Daniel slid one finger around the lip of his glass, but still he did not drink. Cam asked, "Have you thought about the Tauri proposal?"

"Yes."

"And?"

"I have thought about it." He leaned forward and lightly touched Cam's arm, Cam having taken a seat opposite him. "Who I was and who I am are all mixed together in your mind. It would be best if you acted as if you had never met me before. I cannot be Daniel Jackson and what you knew of him will not help you understand me. I am the Regent. I make decisions at my convenience and not that of my petitioners." He shrugged. "We are a very rude people, but exquisitely so."

Teal'c was watching him with great interest. "It interests me the ways in which you are like a Goa'uld system lord and the ways in which you are different, DanielJackson."

"So you find ways that I am different?" Daniel said, helping himself to a bite from the tray in front of him.

"A few."

"Don't let that lull you into relaxing," Daniel said, his voice turning sharp. "You are in danger here, constant danger. I have tried to arrange that your food is safe and that no one will have a chance to get to you, but all is still chance."

"Then wouldn't it make sense to make your decision quickly so we can leave?" Cam asked.

"Don't presume to pressure me," Daniel said and his voice turned cold. There was a silence and then the half-smile returned. From then on, he was consummately charming through the entire meal.

He asked after the people of the SGC, but never Jack. At last, Teal'c said, in deliberate provocation Cam thought, "Jack is well. He has retired."

"When are the two of you going to get married, Sam?" Daniel asked. There was no hint that the answer mattered to him at all.

"That's a strange question to ask about two people who are not together in any way," Sam said. There was the briefest of awkward silences and then Elspetha said something amusing and the moment passed.

Twice, they almost thought they saw their Daniel when he became enthused about some projects he had going to improve things and began to talk very rapidly and explain things in great detail. His blue eyes lit up and he seemed younger and almost carefree. Mitchell saw the yearning look, barely disguised on Sam's face, as she sat watching him, listening. Both times, in the middle of his monologue, Daniel looked over at Elspetha, caught some sort of warning, and moderated his enthusiasm. 

Cam began to wonder if Elspetha was truly the power behind the throne. That was until she overstepped her bounds. Daniel said something that seemed innocuous to Cam about reforms he wanted to make to the marriage laws. Elspetha must have flashed him one of her looks. He very deliberately finished his sentence, then turned to her and spoke a few clipped words of Linteri. She bit her lip and looked down at her hands and said nothing else for several minutes. When she rejoined the conversation, he paid her an extravagant compliment for something and her own smile wobbled just for a minute.

His approval matters to her more than anything else, Cam thought and it galled him immensely.

About the time it became full velvet dark outside, Daniel stood. "I need to tuck my son in. All of you trooping into his bedroom might be a little overwhelming, but I would like him to get to know you. Sam, would you come with me this evening?"

Cam thought he kept his face impassive, but Daniel shot him a quick, amused look as if he had read concern there. "Do not worry, Colonel. I will see your team member safely returned to you."

Cam thought about the way she had been watching him and knew that Sam's greatest problem walking through this minefield might be her own desire to step directly on one of the mines.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Sam couldn't help but be a little irritated by the expression on her CO's face at Daniel's invitation. She didn't think Cameron Mitchell was a sexist, but there were times when it seemed to her that he treated her a little too much like some flower of Southern womanhood that needed protection instead of an officer that he barely outranked. He was a full colonel now and she was still waiting for that promotion.

Daniel slid a hand under her elbow and escorted her down a short hall past three guards to Davi's suite. The boy was sitting on the bed in the inner room, a sweet faced older woman next to him, turning the pages of a book. When he saw his father he crowed with delight and put out his arms. The woman stood, said quietly, "Good evening Your Grace," and silently left the room through a side door into the small room next to Davi's where she apparently slept.

Daniel said, absently, as she left, "Good evening, Tildi, sleep well." His attention was focused on the child. He picked him up and tossed him in the air and whirled him around and then dropped him on the bed and tickled him. Davi loved it. Daniel said, "Tildi tells me, oh so carefully and tactfully, that it is not wise to excite him at bedtime, but we are bad boys, are we not, Davi?" He was speaking in English and Davi had no idea what the subject was, but he smiled cooperatively in response to his father's questioning expression.

Daniel patted the bed on the other side of Davi, indicating that Sam should sit. "Perhaps tonight we start his English lessons." He picked up one of the picture books. "Perhaps if I read it to him in Linteri and you say the English?"

Three books were read in this manner with Daniel sometimes having to explain pictures of Linteri animals or objects before Sam had an idea of the English word to fit. Davi was vastly entertained by her antics and showed himself to be an excellent mimic. Sam thought, he's inherited Daniel's brilliance and linguistics abilities. Daniel's explanations became increasingly silly and by the end the adults were laughing, easy in each other's company. When the child's eyes began to droop, Daniel took the book away, laid him back and covered him up. Then he stroked his hair gently and sang to him in a pleasant tenor. At last his hand stilled and the song died away and there was only the sound of the child's quiet, slow breathing. Daniel stood carefully, came around the bed, and took Sam's hand to lead her from the dusky room.

There was a door to the roof garden off the outer room and Daniel took her out into the soft night. "He is my greatest treasure," Daniel said. "Yet I risk him for a stubborn, proud, selfish people who continually stray from what is in their own best interests. I could take him to Earth and he would surely grow up and be happy. If I did that, there would be bloody war here and tens of thousands, perhaps more, would die before the succession was settled. I would offer my own life for theirs, but do I love them so much that I must offer up my only child?"

Sam took a sharp breath. "Daniel, do you realize how biblical you sound?"

"If there is, in truth, a God who gave his only son to save the world, I now appreciate how much love he must have had," Daniel said ruefully. "I would think happier thoughts. Let us walk."

The garden was lit by soft lights. The Linteri had electricity, but always preferred the biological solution. The soft, eldritch light came from some sort of bioluminescence. Sam looked at Daniel's profile in the subtle light. The scar did not make him any less beautiful, she thought. Beautiful? Had she ever thought before that Daniel was a drop dead gorgeous man? She thought back to Cam's concerned face. Maybe he was less worried about Daniel than he was about her.

They were in the midst of the garden now, soft air, laden with the smells of the fragrant flowers in colorful clay pots around them, ruffling her hair. There was an electric light here, making a bright little oasis around a bench in the midst of high shrubs in planters. Daniel said, "There is something I would like you to have. Cup your hands."

He pulled out a small, velvet pouch from a pocket, loosened the draw strings, and poured a necklace out into her joined hands. Two dozen or so gems were woven into a sort of rope where they were the center of flowers cunningly wrought in gold. They coruscated in the light. She knew she was holding a fortune. "Daniel it's beautiful," she breathed, "but this would empty too many of your people's pockets."

"This was taken from them long ago and just sits in a vault with dozens of others like it. I would like to sell most of it off and use the money to improve things but the political fallout would be immense. It is not time for that yet." He picked it up and clasped it around her neck where it hung to just above the swell of her breasts. 

He ran his finger under it and lifted it at the bottom, his knuckles very lightly brushing against the tops of her breasts. "Is this a bribe?" she asked. She hated how accusatory that sounded, not the diplomatic subtlety Cam had been trying to coach her to plan for in her dealings with him.

"A bribe?" He had decided, she thought, to be deliberately obtuse. "I am bribing you to slant the treaty my way?"

"There are rules, you know. I can't accept a gift of any value from a foreign government."

"Then I will take it before you leave and keep it for you until you come back again," he said. She thought there was a little hurt in his voice, but she steeled herself.

"We both know that isn't the type of favor I was talking about," she said.

"I know you are not for sale, Sam," he said. "I would have sold everything I had if that had been the case to raise the asking price long ago."

"Daniel, we're friends. I don't understand where this is coming from," she protested weakly.

"Do you not?" He was back in control of himself. The little window of vulnerability was gone and he was supremely confidant again. That strengthened her ability to hold out against him. He was reminding her of Jack now. It amazed her to realize that she didn't really like Jack's arrogant assumption that anything he wanted was his. She was quite sure now she would go back to her quarters on the next floor down with nothing to hide, that was until he skated one hand across her bare flesh, buried the other in her hair, and kissed her.

"Daniel," she whispered softly against his lips.

"Are you telling me to stop?" he asked. "Tell me to stop and I will." Meanwhile his hand traveled lower and his fingers dipped just a few centimeters under the neckline of her dress. He kissed her harder. Her lips had opened under his without resistance and his warm tongue plundered her mouth. His hand moved even lower and sparks shot through her. He sat down on the bench without letting go of her and pulled her into his lap. He alternated between kissing her mouth and nuzzling her neck, even gently biting her a little. He removed his hand from her bodice without ever fully transgressing to intimacy and instead pulled her skirt up part way, enough that he could put his hand under it and run it up her leg to her knee. His kisses were making her crazy. She didn't need the touching too to make her feel like she was going to lose her mind.

Then suddenly, he removed his hand and dropped her skirt and pulled his mouth away from hers. "What?" she asked bewildered.

"I have all the power here. It wouldn't be fair to allow anything more than this."

"Fair?" She was indignant. "Usually they only apply the term 'tease' to women. You though, you are a tease."

"I make you hot," he said and he sounded unaccountably sad about it.

"Do you want me to beg?" she asked, "I'm not doing that any more."

"Oh, Sam, you haven't been that wise about the men you've chosen have you? I just meant what you're feeling is lust, right? It's not really what I need. Power seems to make most women very hot and I've a whole planet of beauties just waiting for an invitation."

He set her carefully on her feet and led her, hand under her elbow, off the roof garden and through the outer room. Neither spoke. Sam didn't know why he was silent. For her part, she frankly didn't know what to say. He wasn't making any sense to her. Did he expect her to tell him that she was in love with him? She wasn't and she wasn't going to say it. Then why did she feel so bereft? Her inner turmoil was so violent that she barely took in the appearance of the two guards to whom he entrusted her. She didn't answer when he said good night.

She followed the guards back to the suite she shared with the rest of SG-1 and entered to find them all sitting in the common area, waiting for her. She felt like a naughty teenaged girl who'd gone out with the local bad boy against her parents' wishes. Suddenly she became aware that she was still wearing the necklace.

"What is that around your neck?" Jonas said. He came toward her to get a better look.

Cam was standing a lot closer to her to begin with and he asked, "What is that on your neck?" Sam put a hand up and touched the spot where she now remembered Daniel had nipped at her. Had he done that on purpose to mark her or had he just been carried away?

"We're all grown ups here," she said. "I think you both can answer those questions without help." She swept past them. "If you don't mind, I'm going to bed."

Cam said, "Let's you and I go out on the balcony and debrief first. We are on a mission."

She followed him stiffly out to the balcony. As soon as the door shut behind him, she said, "I don't believe, sir, that there is any reason why I should share what happens in my private life with my CO."

"In this situation, you don't have a private life," he said. His voice was kind but firm.

"Okay. We kissed a few times. That's all. He made it very clear that he thinks it would be an abuse of his power for anything more than that to happen. Is there anything else you want to know?"

"You know you can't keep the necklace."

"I know I can't keep it. May I be dismissed?"

Cam nodded, looking very disturbed, and she walked as slowly as she could make herself to her room, her cheeks burning with humiliation at what Teal'c and Jonas must be thinking. She shut her door firmly but didn't slam it. She was very proud of herself for that.

She looked at her neck in the mirror. Daniel had set her up for huge embarrassment with the necklace and the patch of reddened skin that would definitely bloom into a love bite. She was angry with Daniel, wasn't she? Would her Daniel have done that? When she lay down and closed her eyes, she thought apprehensively of the dream of searching for Daniel in an immense palace. Now she was living it. 


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning Cameron was a little reluctant to leave his bedroom and join his team. He knew things would be awkward when they first convened for the day. More than once he had wished that Sam had retained the SG-1 command and he had simply joined as a team member. He had just wanted to be part of it all. It must be a bitter pill for Sam to have to swallow to see what had been her command go to a slightly younger officer. Because of combat related spot promotions, Cam had moved up the officer ranks unusually fast and had made to lt. colonel very young. As a result, he had the time in required for his recent promotion to colonel before Sam did. Now they weren't essentially peers, but with him almost nominally in command. Now, he actually outranked her. He had felt some tension in their previously excellent relationship since his promotion. 

Then he had had to push it last night. What had impelled him to be such a damn hypocrite, embarrassing her like that on the same balcony where he and Elspetha had kissed for the first time for a few breathless moments earlier in the same evening? He could tell himself that there were some differences in the consequences and situations and that was what he had done last night. This morning he looked like a bully in his own eyes. He knew he did to Teal'c. He didn't like himself very much at the moment.

When he had reentered the room from the balcony after talking to Sam the previous evening, Teal'c had been alone. "Was that completely necessary?" Teal'c had asked.

Cam had been mildly surprised. Teal'c understood chain of command and he rarely questioned Cam. "I'm just afraid that anything between her and Daniel is playing with fire as far as the mission and her own happiness goes. Did you know she and Jack were over before she said something this evening?"

Teal'c had arched an eyebrow, making Cam feel stupid. Teal'c wasn't demonstrative and sometimes he forgot just how close Teal'c and Sam were. This morning, he really didn't want more of Teal'c's disapproval. He chided himself. His leadership style was at the edge of the envelope as to how much latitude you could give your people and how consensual you could make things. Sometimes he had to remind himself that an officer couldn't be concerned about whether his troops liked his command decisions as long as he knew they were correct.

A huge breakfast was laid out on the table in their common area as it had been the day before. Jonas and Teal'c were already seated, having an animated conversation about something that had happened when they had been on the team together years before. Jonas greeted Cam sunnily, more or less oblivious to some of the tensions that swirled around the room. Teal'c nodded his head and said "Good morning ColonelMitchell," without a trace of disapproval.

If Sam can just come out here with the same 'let's go forward' attitude, that'll be what I need, Cam thought.

He looked up to see Sam entering the room. There was indeed a full blown love bite on her neck right above the collar of her uniform and she hadn't tried to conceal it with make up either. Her chin was up and her attitude was definitely, "Go ahead make something of it. Make my day."

Cam groaned inwardly but was careful to show nothing but his usual happy, upbeat manner. "Good morning, Sam." She confined her response to a neutral nod and exchanged good mornings with Teal'c and Jonas. Cam tried another conversational overture. "We need an opportunity for exercise if we're going to keep getting breakfasts like this."

Jonas said, "And dinners like last night! Daniel certainly does eat well when he's not dining with a crowd."

Teal'c inclined his head and asked, "Is there an agenda for the day or are we to simply wait another day while DanielJackson thinks about our offer?"

"Nothing has been mentioned so far. Elspetha showed up yesterday as we were finishing breakfast with the word for the day. Maybe that will happen again today. It might not be a bad idea to request an opportunity to do some exercising if they don't have any meetings or other activities planned that would conflict. We could probably all use a chance to work some things off." He flinched inside as soon as he said it, realizing it could be taken as a dig.

Jonas proved his usefulness once again in riding above all the things running on under the surface and happily seconded the idea.

As predicted, Elspetha showed up very soon after that. Mitchell's stomach turned over and his heartbeat sped up at the first sight of her. He'd been able to keep things in check but now that he had kissed her. With real memories instead of mere pleasant fantasies, it was a lot harder. Her own face gave absolutely nothing away nor could it be expected to. She had lived in the world of the court her entire adult life.

Her eyes flicked over them all and then returned to Sam and held for a beat. Only because he was watching her so intently did he notice the real pain that came, he was sure, when she noticed the mark on Sam's neck. "His Grace Danyal has suggested that you might like to accompany him to Bayia today. It is a large island, a paradise really, about two hours by ship. He must conduct some business there. It would be an opportunity for you to see more of our world."

Cam accepted for the team and she excused herself, promising to return in an hour to take them to the ship. When she returned, she was wearing loose pants, the first time they had seen her out of a dress, and she looked with approval at their uniforms. "Finally there is an occasion for which your clothes work well."

She motioned for them to precede her out the door and handed Sam an envelope. She didn't do it covertly, but it was offhand and Cam was sure that neither Teal'c nor Jonas even noticed. Sam frowned slightly and started to put it in a pocket. Elspetha leaned forward and whispered something to her and Sam nodded and finished putting it away.

They made the journey down the mountain side and out to the harbor in two electric cart. They seemed to Cam like glorified golf carts. The city through which they smoothly rolled, along wide immaculate boulevards, was as beautiful up close as it had promised to be when seen from the palace.The people riding past or strolling on the sidewalks were very handsome although not on the average quite as beautiful as those at court. Their clothes were richly colored and well cut but not as outrageously expensive. SG-1's Air Force uniforms, which even Jonas and Teal'c wore although devoid of insignia of rank, were a little plain in contrast but not as outlandish as they would have looked among the courtiers' dress. They looked at SG-1 with curiosity and an air of superiority.

The ship riding out in the harbor was large with impressive lines. It actually had massive rigging, but the smoke stacks told Cam that it did not have to depend on sails. They got in a yacht sized sailing ship to be ferried out to their destination. Elspetha pointed to the blue pennant bearing some marking they was too far away to read. "His Grace Danyal is already aboard. His personal flag is flying."

Sam sat at the extreme end of the boat and drew the envelope out, tapping it against her fingers. Cam wondered if he would ever see its contents and whether he should, as the CO, ask to.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Sam looked with trepidation at the envelope. Elspetha had whispered that it was very important that she read it before she saw Daniel. She couldn't imagine what it would contain and had wondered at the contented smile that had played around Elspetha's lips when she had given it to her. She approved of it, clearly, and Sam wondered if she had actually read it or merely had an idea of the contents. She had seen the look of pain briefly cross the woman's face when Elspetha apparently noticed the mark on her neck. She interpreted this as jealousy and had to conclude that the contents of the note, therefore, couldn't be good if they gave the other woman satisfaction.

No putting it off any longer, she thought and sighed. She broke the seal and slid out the single folded sheet of heavy paper and a small packet of some sort of salve.

Dearest Sam,

Elspetha told me that there is a mark on your neck. I had said nothing to her about what transpired between us in the garden, but she knows me well and had guessed what might have occurred. She divined and rightly that I would be greatly pained that I done something that might well cause you real embarrassment. Please use the salve in this packet. It makes bruises disappear at an astonishing rate.

Daniel

There was no "I'm sorry" in so many words. She remembering him saying that he could not apologize in his position, but his regret was plain. She opened the packet and rubbed the salve on her neck. Then she reread the note twice. She had been surprised when she woke up that morning that she wasn't really that angry with him and even more surprised that part of her was more than a little turned on by the idea that he did want to mark her as his. Reading this note turned her insides to mush. She was sure now that her Daniel was still somewhere in the Regent and that he and Elspetha were not having the affair she had suspected. In fact, she realized that the pain at the sight of the mark on her neck had been Elspetha's realization of how unhappy this would make Daniel. She carefully replaced the note in an inner pocket and turned, looking toward the ship.

Elspetha must have been watching because as soon as Sam had put the note away, she made her way to Sam's side. She put a hand on Sam's arm and said, so softly that no one else could hear, "It pained him greatly that he had made trouble for you."

"I believe that," Sam said. Impulsively she decided to take advantage of this sympathetic moment to ask the question that had been bothering her ever since Daniel had appeared at the SGC for the treaty negotiation. "Forgive me, Elspetha, I know that Daniel's wife was your daughter and talking about her might be painful for you, but Daniel closes up when she is even mentioned. Can you tell me," Sam stopped in mid-sentence. Was she really going to ask this woman how her daughter had died.

Elspetha looked at sympathetically and intuitively realized what Sam wanted to know. "I mourned her for a long time, but enough years have past that I can talk about her. His Grace Danyal can't bear to talk about her because he feels responsible for her death." She sighed. "You see, if it had not been for the prophecy, there is no way there would not have been a bloody war of succession when the only heir was a young girl whose mother wasn't even of the aristocracy. The prophecy made them accept Monca as an heir as long as Daniel was with her for the time being, but they sneered at him. He seemed weak and foolish because he had not yet learned to act as my people expect a ruler to attack. Within days after Davi was born, there was an assassination attempt. Monca died."

Sam could just imagine how Daniel would feel. "I'm sorry to make you dredge all that up."

Elspetha took her hand and patted it. "I should have realized you would be wondering and His Grace Danyal would never tell you. She was blessed to have him the short time that she did. If he had not taken pity on her and our people, she would have been killed when her father died."

When they came aboard the ship, Sam immediately saw little Davi running exuberantly up and down the deck under Tildi's careful eye. He came running toward them, hugged Elspetha, and then turned to Sam. "Sun" he said and pointed up. She was inordinately pleased that he had retained at least one of the words from their session the night before.

"Sun" she agreed. He grabbed her hand and began to pull her toward stairs leading to the upper decks and she went with him willingly, the rest of SG-1 and his grandmother trailing along behind. The top deck was clearly the royal preserve. Davi towed her through a door into a sort of conference room. Daniel sat at a large table with several self-important looking men. There were papers strewn about the surface. Daniel was leaning back, watching one of them declaiming passionately about something indicated on a map in front of Daniel.

No one paid any attention to their entry at first. The drama they were more absorbed in became apparent when a second man stood and leaned across the table to shout something at the first man. Suddenly a knife flashed and the second man went down clutching his chest. Two huge bodyguards immediately interposed themselves between Daniel and the others in the room. A third, who had noticed them, moved to protect Davi. They saw Daniel's hand go down on some sort of communication box, perhaps something that sounded an alarm or called for help. The others in the room sat where they were unmoving. The knife wielder picked up a paper from those in front of him, wiped off his knife, and put it away. Three men pushed past them into the room and went to the injured man, evidently medics. Daniel waved the bodyguards aside and they saw that he had never even changed his position.

He spoke very coldly and with great displeasure to the man who had stabbed the other. The man turned white, seemed about to argue, and then bowed his head in acquiescence. He stammered out what may have been an apology. It didn't seem to have worked because Daniel spoke again, each word like a bullet. The man hurriedly gathered up his papers, stuffed them in a sort of briefcase, and stumbled from the room. Sam saw two guards meet him outside and escort him away. Elspetha whispered to Cam and Sam overhead her. "He's a bully and I have waited a long time to see him fall."

Daniel looked up and acknowledged their presence for the first time. The men all stood hurriedly and bowed to the little king. Daniel spoke in English. "We've been trying to conduct some important business, but some of our subjects have trouble with the rules of common courtesy that I have dictated." His eyes flicked to the man on the floor with the medics working on him. "Perhaps it is best to adjourn the meeting."

"Will he be all right?" Jonas asked. Sam knew where he was coming from. This all seemed a little casual.

"He's cut from the same cloth as the man who stabbed him. It was only a matter of who finally provoked whom first."

Cam asked, emboldened by Daniel's apparent willingness to discuss the situation. "Why would you allow people in your presence who were armed."

"Ah," Daniel said, "You may well ask. For these people, any sign of fear is blood in the water. It would be taken that way and, in the long run, wouldn't help."

He looked at the other men in the room who had been listening to this discourse with obvious curiosity, but clearly no understanding. He spoke to them dismissively. They bowed and he stood and crossed the room to SG-1, scooping up his son, and stepping out onto the deck.

Daniel told Elspetha, "It may be early, but I think it is time for a meal."

She nodded and quickly crossed the open deck ahead of them. They entered the doorway across from the conference room to find a comfortable dining room. Elspetha was speaking to a servant, who bowed and left the room. Jonas started to sit, but stopped himself at a tiny shake of the head from Elspetha. Daniel put Davi in a seat, then sat. Then they all sat. He looked at them ruefully and nodded at the large windows. "We are not alone here and we need to remember ceremony more."

"Do incidents like that happen often?" Cam asked, leaning back in his chair. Sam admired the fact that he had never lost his confidence in these strange surroundings. Cam could have carried this off as well as Daniel, she thought.

"Less often since I made the penalty for using a weapon on another in my presence banishment and loss of worldly possessions."

"But it still happens?" Jonas asked incredulously, "I mean, despite that?"

"My people are what they are. Change takes time." Daniel looked up at the entrance of two waiters with drinks and that was the end of the discussion.

Sam sat next to Daniel and had to fight the impulse to reach over and touch him, to make sure it still was Daniel. The things she loved about him were still there somewhere, she was sure, but so often there was this cold, uncaring façade. She told herself that one thing had been accomplished this day at least. She now understood little Davi's unperturbed acceptance of the knife incident in the cafeteria at Cheyenne Mountain.


	6. Chapter 6

That evening they were to sleep on the moored ship a hundred yards off the shore of the island and sail back to the capitol in the morning. SG-1 ate their dinner alone. Daniel, they learned, was dining in state on the island. Elspetha appeared at dusk to take them to a large playroom where Davi was delighted to see them. They ended up letting themselves be kids and playing games with him. He did insist on being told the English words for things. He seemed to dote on this new game. He was a very happy child and seemingly unspoiled despite being the center of his world. 

After night had fully descended, Daniel appeared and beckoned to Cam. Cam disengaged himself and shrugged at the questioning looks from the others. Daniel and Cam and the ever present body guards strolled to the prow of the ship. Daniel leaned against the railing and looked at Cam. Mindful of the bodyguards, Cam waited for him to speak first.

At last Daniel said, "There are those that question my … sexual orientation because I have not taken advantage of my right to help myself to whatever woman takes my fancy. Elspetha has been what has kept those rumors at bay. We have allowed the court to believe that she is my lover. There is a faint odor of incest because she was my mother in law and that is the sort of titillation that the courtiers love. Because of the family tie, I could not arrange for a divorce for her and marry her or be open about our relationship, but it provides a reason why I have delayed remarrying. It works perfectly for me and has brought her much better treatment because she is believed to have great influence with me." He threw up his hands. "She does anyway. She's the only one I've had to talk to."

He turned and gazed out at the sea. He spoke very softly and Cam had to take a few steps closer to hear him clearly. "It has been most unfair to her. She has not been able to have any real romance in her life or to marry. I see what is going on between the two of you and I rejoice in whatever romance she decides is appropriate between you. For her safety, you must be very careful though. There are those who would kill her for the insult to the throne of betraying me by so much as a kiss. I have let it be known that you saved my life more than once in the past. If you are caught, it may be believed that I allowed you to have her to repay the debt I owed you."

Cam swore softly. It was degrading that these people traded women around in this fashion. Elspetha had stirred a protective instinct in him that was becoming fiercer by the day. "That's, quite frankly, pretty sordid."

Daniel turned back to him and nodded. "I couldn't agree with you more. Be careful. We don't want to have to fall back on that story."

"Do you ever listen to yourself?" Cam said. He kept his voice low and even, but he was very angry. "Talking about letting people think you gave her to me to pay a debt like she was property."

"I do not justify myself to you. I only tell you that you will not bring harm to Elspetha. We may not be lovers, but I value her above everyone else on this world except Davi. If you are responsible for ill coming to her, it will not matter how many times you saved my life in the past." Daniel turned his back on him and gave the guards an order in Linteri. Cam realized he had been dismissed.

Strolling back to the playroom, he had time to feel once again like a jerk. Daniel's instincts had all been to protect Elspetha and see that she was happy. They might not be lovers, but Cam realized that he was powerfully jealous of the connection they did have. He began to think, for the first time, about taking Elspetha away from this world, from her grandson, and from Daniel, and wondering if he had a snow ball's chance in hell of getting her to choose him over everything else.

By the time Cam had reached the playroom, Davi had been carried off to prepare for bed. Elspetha suggested that she show them each to their staterooms. The rooms were off a long corridor and Cam's was the last room. They watched the other doors close and she asked, "Would you mind if I came in and spoke with you privately for a moment?"

He smiled, but stopped himself from touching her. Daniel's words were seared in his brain. He worried now about kissing her on a balcony the night before, but clung to the hope that they had been in complete darkness and there had been clouds. She preceded him into the spacious cabin and took a seat on a wide divan. He sat opposite her.

"This is what I wish to say. His Grace Danyal has told me of the customs of your world. I know you think we are very – licentious – this is a correct word?"

"If you mean what I think you do."

"But it is only the court where such behavior is expected or condoned. I was not born into the aristocracy and my values were formed before I was brought here. From what he tells me the Tauri sleep together very easily, even more so than most of the court. Are you such a man, my Cameron?"

He gaped at her. "Uh, I'm not going to lie to you. I have certainly been with a few women and I wasn't married to them, but I do not believe I have ever taken sex lightly or seen it has something purely recreational."

"I wish that I could feel comfortable giving myself to you, but I cannot. The poor boy I married so long ago still lives, though I understand that he is near death and not expected to see the winter. Although I was not permitted to see him after I was taken from him, until he leaves this life, I will feel that I am bound to him despite what Davi's grandfather did to me. Still I yearn for you. I would like very much to touch you a little, to kiss you again, if you can grant me that, knowing that there cannot be more."

He looked at her wordlessly, his feelings shining in his eyes. He crossed the room and pulled her to her feet and into his arms. "I can't say no to you," he breathed into her fragrant hair. He lowered his head and kissed her, making it slow and worshipful. Then he sat on the divan and pulled her down next to him. He wanted her in his lap, but was afraid it could lead to more than she wanted or could accept. Instead he lay back against the arm of the divan and pulled her upper body across his. He pulled her silky hair forward so that it fell like a curtain around them. He was lost for a moment, just running his fingers through it. He had never seen such hair.

She explored his face with her fingers and then she boldly kissed him. When they ended the kiss at last, she said, "That is the first kiss of passion I have ever initiated." She sighed. "How will I ever be able to watch you go back through that gate, my Cameron?"

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Sam stood and gazed out the porthole. The moon made a silver path that seemed to come right to her window and she fantasized that she could climb out and walk across the water to a simpler place. She had begun to see the trap of responsibility that Daniel could not escape. He could not be responsible for death on a massive scale, but the man he had to be to prevent that was slowly devouring him. She had learned his façade now well enough to see beneath it to the pain. She truly believed he was only happy when he was with Davi.

There was a soft scratching on the door and she went to it and then stood, transfixed, with her hand on the knob. All the warnings about the dangers of this place made her hesitate. "Sam, it's Daniel. Open the door."

Sam quickly opened the door and Daniel slipped in. "We need to talk," he said and sank to the couch. He put his head in his hands and seemed to gather courage before beginning to speak. "For three years, I lived with this act, but I'm losing my soul, Sam. There'll be nothing left of me soon. I'd almost forgotten who I was until I saw you."

She moved to sit beside him. She gently pulled one of his hands away from his head and took it in her own. "It's so like you to take on a whole planet's problems, no matter what the cost to you."

He gazed intently at her and for the first time she felt completely connected with who he really was although she had come close when they had been with Davi. "I've been developing some ideas of a way to transition power to someone I can trust to continue reforms. That's part of what the discussions have been on this trip."

She felt hope, real hope for the first time in days. "Is it going to work?"

"I think so." His face transformed and was graced with a real, heart happy genuine smile, the smile he saved for Davi, instead of the jaded amused expression of a cynical aristocrat that had served for conveying happiness adult to adult since they had arrived. That expression fell away to be replaced by hope mingled with anxiety. "Sam, if Davi and I go back to Earth, do you think there's a chance for us?"

Sam knew in that moment that she had loved him for a long time, but her screwed up notions of what she should be looking for in a husband and of marriage, based on the dysfunctional disaster lived out by Jacob and Mary Carter had caused her to misinterpret her feelings. "More than a chance," she said emphatically.

"As in maybe if I were to ask you to marry me, you would say yes?"

Just as Daniel slipped to one knee in front of her, there was the scrape of a chair being pulled back and Cam's voice said, "Carter, I don't think you've heard a word I said."

She looked up to see her CO, sitting in front of her and leaning across her desk. He had entered unnoticed while she had been daydreaming a wistful scenario describing what she wished had happened on Linter, instead of what actually had. "Good morning, sir," she said, trying to sound brisk and efficient. "If you don't mind me saying so, you look like hell."

"Oh, I think we had enough personal discussions on Linter that we've moved past qualifying a comment like that."

"Did you want to discuss Friday's mission?" she asked hopefully. She knew damn well that that wasn't it at all. Nope, Cameron Mitchell had decided that she was the one person on the base who could understand his angst or who knew Elspetha well enough to indulge in endless recollections of her. She was feeling her own pain and, although it made her feel selfish, she had about reached the breaking point listening to his. It had been a one way conversation because she hadn't been ready to share. Maybe, if she did, she'd feel better and he'd be less likely to drop by for these discussions more than once a day.

"Not really," he said. "It's much all pretty straightforward as described in the briefing materials." He toyed with her desk calendar and she moved it away from him. "That's a good thing because I just can't get her out of my head."

"Believe me I understand."

He looked up at her and asked what he assumed was a rhetorical question. He was a good man and did want to be there for her. It was just that she hadn't responded to his overtures so far. "What really happened with you and Daniel? Things seemed to be very cool between you our last day there. If it would help you to talk about it…"

"Actually, I think I should." She took perverse satisfaction at the shock and the hint of disappointment that crossed his face before he assumed a sympathetic listening expression. He was, after all, a nice guy. "That evening on the ship Daniel came to my cabin. He just demanded to come in, no please."

She sat quietly for a minute and let the recollection flow over her, deciding where and how to edit. The memories were so clear because she had gone over them a thousand times already.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I remember I was thinking to myself when he demanded to come in, he can't say please. It's against the rules. I asked him, "When it's just the two of us, couldn't you say please?"

He stared at me blankly. "You want me to say please."

When I nodded, he said, "I can't Sam. It took me a little bit to work this out when I first came. I'm a Method actor. I'm the type of actor who has to live the part all the time. I can't take it off and put it back on when I need it. I have to believe that this is who I am." He spread his hands. "My son's life is the price of failure." He clenched his jaw and a muscle jumped. "After awhile, you become what you pretend to be. I'm not your Daniel any more."

"I'm surprised you didn't summon me to your chambers," I told him. I ignored his comment about not being Daniel any more. I didn't believe it. The way he was with his son, the selfless things he was doing for these people, they were evidence that he was still there.

He said, "I was afraid you might not have come. I brought you pain last night."

He was wearing a tunic of this marvelous velvety fabric that clung to his upper body and I yielded to the temptation to run my hands over it. I told him, "I was embarrassed all right …. At first."

He looked at me quizzically and slipped his arms around my waist. He asked, "Only at first?"

"You have anything in this world at your disposal, many women who are far more beautiful and less difficult than I, but you want me. It's very flattering."

"Have you thought at all Sam," he asked, the merest whisper of hesitation in his voice, "what it would be like if you were marked as mine and I were marked as yours?"

I said, "I thought you didn't want to deal with my lust for you."

He was looking at me from under half-closed lids, his face giving nothing away. "So that is what it is then, lust? When you think about us together, you only think about sex?"

"What is the point of this conversation, Daniel?" I asked. I lifted my hand to trace along his cheekbone and he turned his head and kissed my palm. "I'm not the kind of woman who could come here and be your, your, what? your concubine. I guess that's the word for a ruler's lover."

"You're not for sale and you are no one's concubine. These things I know." He made a soft growling sound and kissed me hard. One hand left my waist and traveled down to cup my backside and pull me tight against him.

It felt way too good and it would have been so easy to give in if he had more in mind than teasing kisses like the last time. I pushed him away. "Do you love me?"

He countered with, "Do you love me?"

"I love Daniel as I knew him. His Grace Danyal, I just don't know. I don't like the arrogance, the rudeness, and presumption. I don't like a man bleeding to death a few feet away from you without a trace of compassion on your part."

He sighed and he set me away from him. He rose and went to the door and then turned. "As my wife, I can make you happier sexually than you've ever been, I'm sure of it." Yes, he had gained a lot of confidence. "I can give you luxury like you've never known. I can make you the mother of a precious little boy. I can make you part of something very important for these people. I can love you BUT I can't be the Daniel you remember. Being that Daniel got Davi's mother killed. I won't risk anyone else I love." He looked at me very seriously. "Be sure you want to turn all that down because I won't offer it again."

I was crying but I shook my head and he left. The door shutting behind him sounded like them nailing my coffin shut.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Cam said, "Sam?"

She looked up and apologized. "I was just putting my thoughts in order. He came in and basically told me that he was a Method actor who had to live the part of the arrogant ruler all the time. He couldn't not be that person in private and carry it off in public. He kissed me. It was strange the way it happened, but…yeah…he proposed. The thing was he said he would be as he had been the whole time we were there. There would be no private Daniel Jackson from days gone past so I turned him down."

Cam said, "I guess you felt you didn't have any other choice."

"Exactly."

Her phone rang and she excused herself and picked it up. General Landry said, "Is Mitchell there with you?"

"Yes, sir," she responded.

"Why don't both of you come to my office. We've got a response from the government to the amended proposal Dr. Jackson sent back."

When they joined Teal'c and Jonas in Landry's office, their team members were already sitting around his small round conference table. Landry had stayed behind his desk and was leaning back. "Good news and you all are owed a vote of appreciation for your work getting Dr. Jackson to accept our offer with only minor amendments. There was some amusement at State about the inclusion of a supply of Jell-O."

Cam said, with barely controlled eagerness, "How will the signing be managed? When is it scheduled?"

Landry shifted a little and appeared slightly uncomfortable. "There was an unusual request when we notified the Linteri that agreement had been reached. Dr. Jackson was very careful to state that this request in no way reflects unfavorably on either you, Colonel, or Colonel Carter. Nonetheless, he has requested that neither of you return and that General O'Neill lead the team returning for the signature."

Sam looked quickly at her CO who was staring ahead stony-faced. There was no way to take this except as a personal rejection. It was possible that Daniel had made this decision on Elspetha's part and she knew nothing about Cam being asked not to return. Sam doubted it. For herself, she was torn between relief and disappointment. Going back and getting the cold and distant treatment she had received her last day there would have been extremely painful even if she would have loved to have another opportunity just to look at him.  
After Jonas and Teal'c had walked away, leaving the two victims of public Linteri rejection standing together in the hall, Cam said fiercely, "I will not believe this is what she wants. This is Daniel's doing. It can't end like this."

Sam hoped for his sake he was right. For herself, there was only a cold, empty place at her core. She walked numbly back to her office, shut the door, and defiantly began to reconstruct her lovely dream once again.


	7. Chapter 7

Two days later, Sam was sitting in her office, trying to focus on information for their next significant mission. Cam had decided that they needed a long one, somewhere very different where there would be little free time to pick at their wounds and nothing that might remind them of their lost loves. Sam was in complete agreement. There was a knock at the door and she called out, "Come in," expecting it to be Cam.

"Hey, Sam, you got a moment?"

Her head jerked up to see Jack standing hesitantly in her doorway. She could only attribute her shock at seeing him to some futile form of denial. She should have realized it was inevitable that she would see him when he came to take the treaty back to Daniel. 

"Of course, General," she said coldly. She might have finally admitted to herself that she loved Daniel, but Jack had taken a coward's way of breaking it off with her. It hurt to be treated like that. She was also disappointed in him; she had thought him a better man. It seemed like she was a poor judge of men all the way around.

Jack came in the rest of the way and took her visitor's chair. "I guess you aren't too happy with me right now," he said.

"I don't believe as a Lt. Colonel I am in a position to assess your performance, sir," she said, deliberately missing the point.

"Fine," he said. His tone had become equally brisk and professional. "I would like to get some intel from you as to why Daniel requested that I return and you and Mitchell stay away."

"I would think it more appropriate to ask that question of my CO, sir."

"Your CO was extremely unhelpful. I believe he said something about Daniel probably having a cob up his butt. That may well be true, but if I'm going to walk into this situation, I'd like more specifics."

"Way up his butt," Sam said. "Does that help?"

"Colonel, I want more information. That's an order."

Sam sighed. At this point, she wasn't in the mood to do anything for Jack O'Neill. However, she had spent her life as a loyal officer, observant of the chain of command. "Daniel had some confrontations with me. He's changed and I guess I called him on some of the less desirable aspects of that change. I don't think he wanted to see me again and be reminded."

"Daniel? Our Daniel? You never disapproved of him. Sometimes he exasperated you, yeah, but undesirable." Jack shook his head. "I guess I'll have to see it to believe it. What about Mitchell. He give him a hard time the same way?"

"No. At least I don't think so. Daniel's mother-in-law is a beautiful woman named Elspetha. Early 40's and every man's fantasy. Colonel Mitchell and she really hit it off. Daniel is very fond of her, very protective of her happiness. Either Elspetha didn't want to see Cam again because she's already said good bye to him once or Daniel has made that decision without consulting her. It's essentially the same thing."

"Jonas and Teal'c didn't get lucky and so they can come back?"

"Sir, I would not speculate that Colonel Mitchell as you put it 'got lucky.'"

"Fair enough." Jack stood up and turned to leave, but stood indecisively for a moment, his back to her. Then he said, still not facing her, "I'm sorry for hurting you when I broke it off."

"You should be."

He turned and looked at her, his brown eyes sincere and full of remorse. Meeting them reminded her of all the things she had loved and respected about this man. Jack said, "I'm really sorry, Sam. Can you forgive me?"

She knew she should tell him that she forgave him, but she wasn't ready. Too many people had taken too much away from her. Instead she said, feeling like a bad person and very unSamlike, "I'll get back to you on that, General."

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Jack felt pretty rugged physically. He'd not had much sleep in three days and this emergency trip to Colorado right after the return from a trip to Europe had left him feeling exhausted. I'm too old for any of this, he kept thinking. He could retire whenever he wanted. Why, in the name of all that's holy, was he still working? A little voice said "Because it's all you really have."

His emotional state was even worse. He sat in the cafeteria staring into a cup of coffee and thinking about the sweet, adorable, beautiful woman who would hardly give him the time of day. He had made a huge mistake. For months, hell for the three plus years of their relationship, he had felt like he wasn't measuring up. She never complained when he let her down. She just gave up a little bit at a time, like with talking about the things that excited her. When they were first together, she would go on in her technobabble occasionally when an idea really grabbed her. He just wasn't interested. He didn't want to put in the energy to understand. That was why he let people think he was stupid. He wanted to be spared being polite while they talked about things that bored the pants off him. So he only contributed grunts and monosyllables to the conversation and after awhile she would run out of steam. He was pretty sure it had been almost a year since she had even brought up anything the least bit technical.

There he was feeling unappreciated and a little pressured to be something he wasn't and suddenly Jennifer appeared, conveniently right there at the Pentagon and coming after him full bore. How stereotypical could you be, Jack, he asked himself, cheating on your middle-aged girl friend with a late twenty something woman named Jennifer? Maybe not technically cheating—the letter HAD been in the mail—but he knew it was cheating and so did Sam. Of course, it hadn't lasted. Sara and Sam, two good women now that he had lost because he was an ass.

He looked up when Teal'c and Jonas approached his table. Jack got up quickly and greeted Jonas with real enthusiasm. "I heard you were back on the team. I'm delighted. Cam can use a man like you."

Jonas was clearly quite pleased. It had taken him awhile to get accepted the first time around and it was good to be so readily welcomed this time. "May we join you?" he asked.

"Please, please," Jack said. "It's good to see you too, T."

"I am also happy to see you," Teal'c said.

"What do you know about the reason behind Daniel's request for me to come along?" Jack asked. It never hurt to ask multiple people the same question. The differences in the answers could be revealing.

"Perhaps he would like to make peace with you," Teal'c said.

"I didn't know we were at war," Jack said. Suddenly he felt bewildered. This didn't line up at all with what Sam had said.

"You did not know, but he did," Teal'c responded judiciously.

Jonas raised an eyebrow and then nodded slowly. "Ah. Yes."

"Someone want to clue me in?"

Teal'c said, "DanielJackson and ColonelCarter are like Nurse Chapel and Spock or Han Solo and Princess Leia in the first two StarWars movies or … " He ground to a halt trying to come up with other appropriate thwarted lovers.

"Teal'c you got to stop watching that stuff. It's rotting your brain. There is no way Sam would ever be interested in Daniel that way. She likes macho military guys-a cop is quasi-military. Look at her ex-fiance Jonas, look at Pete."

"Look at you," Teal'c finished helpfully.

"Okay. Look at me. Daniel isn't anything like me."

Jonas laughed. "You do have an interesting trip ahead of you."

Later that day when they came through the gate, Jack began to understand. He'd read the file of course, but reading something and having it get up close and personal in your face are two different things. They were escorted from the gate through near endless gardens and echoing corridors with lofty ceilings lined with magnificent art to a spacious chamber where Daniel sat in a chair that was close to a throne. He did not rise as they approached although his expression was friendly. They halted a respectful distance away and Jack just stood until Teal'c nudged him and he remembered he was supposed to bow. Only then did Daniel speak or acknowledge them.

"Greetings. The Linteri welcome you on this important occasion." He glanced at the document case Jack carried. "I would see the agreement."

His tone was preemptory. There was no please. Jack had been warned not to hand the document directly to Daniel and he complied. Taking the agreement a short time later from a deeply bowing bodyguard, Daniel read it very carefully twice. There was ample time for Jack to notice the king's ransom in the rings Daniel wore and the pendant hanging around his neck. At last Daniel simply put out a hand and a servant materialized. He almost seemed to appear out of thin air to hand Daniel the pen. After Daniel signed the agreement, he gave some sort of rapid command in Linteri. Jack, Jonas, and Teal'c continued to stand while Daniel sat. Jack held on to his temper and refrained from speaking, waiting until being spoken to. It was all becoming rather galling. 

Daniel said, "I will speak to you, General O'Neill, privately before you return to Earth after the ceremony."

Before Jack could question what ceremony, a lovely woman appeared with a little boy. The little boy ran to Daniel who lifted him up with delight. Daniel smiled over the child's head at the woman and she returned his smile. Daniel briefly introduced her as Lady Elspetha and the child as King Davi and then he said, "Follow me," and walked toward heavy doors at the back of the room. Two servants opened them before they reached them and, for the first time, Jack noticed crowd noise. They stepped out onto a wide balcony and Jack saw that two stories below there was a wide plaza inside the heavy iron fence around the palace grounds. The gates were flung open and the square was packed with people. There were people on the boulevards leading up the mountain to the palace. There were thousands and thousands of people and when Daniel appeared on the balcony with the child, the acclamation was deafening. At first it was a confused roar and then it gradually coalesced into one giant voice chanting, "Davi. Danyal". Daniel let it continue a short time and then he held up a hand. Almost instantly the sound stopped.

Daniel said nothing but stepped to one side and indicated Jack, Jonas, and Teal'c who stepped forward to tumultuous acclaim. Then Daniel held out the agreement to Jack so that he took hold and it was now grasped between them. Daniel lifted his hand, the agreement, and Jack's hand with it so that Jack was presenting it to the crowd with Daniel. This time the chant was "Danyal". Danyal then bowed to the crowd and they went wild. After a moment or two, he and his son waved and then turned and reentered the palace, followed by the Tauri representatives.

Daniel said something to Elspetha and she nodded and held her arms out to Davi. He pouted, but then obediently went to his grandmother. Daniel set off at a brisk pace toward a less impressive door to the side of the room. They hurried after him and found themselves entering an intimate parlor. Teal'c was the last one to enter and he closed the door behind them.

Daniel sat and indicated the other chairs in the room with a lazy wave. "It is good to see you all. That bit of theater was necessary for the people. You bore it well."

"Some advance warning would have been appreciated," Jack said.

Daniel simply stared him down. Jack had to admit that Daniel might not have known once how to do that particular look, but he was now a past master. Despite himself, he felt a little intimidated. There was a soft knock on the door and Daniel said, "Come."

Elspetha entered. She smiled at them warmly and Daniel said to Teal'c and Jonas, "Elspetha will see that you receive some refreshments. I will talk with Jack alone."

They both got up, unperturbed and left with Elspetha. When she moved aside, a servant entered with a tray, set it down, and quickly left.

When the door shut again and they were alone, Jack said, "You've turned into a really rude SOB Daniel."

Daniel said, "As you would be well equipped to know." He leaned back and looked at Jack under half-closed eyes. "I would make a show of offering you refreshments, but you don't want them and neither do I.

"How do you know what I want?" Jack said.

"I understand you, Jack. I never did before but I do now. What you want is to take a swing at me, but you're smart enough not to."

Jack said, "Just what do you want to talk to me about?"

"You were very important to me. I respected many things about you and I still do. When you and Sam finally got together, I tried to be happy for her, but I was jealous. It drove a wedge between on us on my side. That was not your fault; that was my doing. If I did not think you were a good man and worthy of respect, I would not say this to you. Sam is a treasure, a pearl of great price. A man would sell his entire kingdom for her if it were in his power to do so."

Jack thought to himself, he's talking about his kingdom. Daniel continued, "She deserves to be happy. I do not know what insanity possessed you to let your relationship end with her, but I ask you to think it over. She is very vulnerable now, I think. If you apologized, even if it was not truly your fault, I think she would fall into your arms."

"Maybe, maybe not."

Daniel shook his head. "So you HAVE apologized. You probably kept it to 50 words or less and never really admitted to making a mistake."

Jack felt a flare of resentment. Daniel had no business thinking he could read Jack's mind even if he apparently could. "You seem awfully interested in my love life. Could this be a case of you wanting me to take in your cast off lover?"

Daniel was out of his chair with a knife at Jack's throat before Jack could act. "You may not come to my world and talk disrespectfully to me or about those I honor."

Jack sat unmoving. It was like being faced with a snake about to strike. "Point taken," he said at last, barely moving his lips.

Daniel slowly backed away, sat back down, and dropped the knife on the table in front of him. "I give you my word that Sam and I were not lovers, have never been lovers." He expelled a long breath. "Jack, there are only so many chances in life. Do not use up what may be your last one. Give her a real live romantic apology in which you admit that you made a mistake." He stood. "Let us go to the gate. We have had the theater the people need. The court will not be happy for the lack of a state banquet, but, trust me, the food is pretty bad when I have to feed hundreds."

Jack returned to Earth, almost wondering if he had imagined the whole thing except that he had his copy of the treaty. After debriefing with Landry and the State Department representative, he found himself standing outside Sam's office door again. Before he knocked, he was reminded of Daniel's advice. He turned and walked away from her office and left the Mountain. By 7:00 that night, he was standing on her front step with a dozen roses and hoping for the best. 


	8. Chapter 8

Sam opened the door, assuming that it was her next door neighbor who had become a close friend. She and Amy had chatted briefly when they drove up to their adjoining driveways at the same time earlier in the evening, long enough for Amy to realize that Sam was almost down for the count. The upshot was that Amy was going to come over to watch a DVD with Sam that she promised would cheer her up.

"You certainly aren't Amy," Sam said, unable to find anything else to say, confronted with her ex, his arms full of roses.

"I certainly have made an effort not to be," Jack said. "Any chance I could come in?"

"Of course." You don't leave a man with an armful of flowers standing out in the cold no matter what the past history.

Once inside, Jack held the flowers out to her and said, "This is only a token Sam. I know that a lot more is required to truly apologize to you."

Sam was shocked. Jack was really trying. It had seemed to her that he had quit trying after their relationship was only a few months old. She took them and made noises about putting them in a vase and getting him something to drink. A few minutes later, they were seated on opposite ends of the couch, the roses in a vase on the coffee table in front of them, and a beer in Jack's hand. Jack looked at the beer and set it down on the coffee table, being careful to use a coaster, and turned in his seat to face her. Sam continued to be impressed by his priorities.

"I made a big mistake Sam, two big mistakes. First of all, only a coward breaks it off with someone in a letter. I hate talking about feelings. I hope you realize just how serious I am about this apology that I'm willing to do it now. I was afraid that if I tried to break it off with you verbally, I wouldn't handle it well. I wrote a pretty good letter though, huh?" he asked hopefully.

"I never read it, Jack. I'm sorry. That was probably petty of me."

"I understand. Do you still have it?"

Sam thought about the crumpled ball of paper that, yes, she had retrieved from the wastebasket as she was about to carry it out to the trash and thrown at the bottom of a drawer. "Yes."

"In it I said that it wasn't that I didn't love you. Rather I thought I wasn't making you happy and that I wouldn't ever make you all that happy unless I changed more than I was ready to at the time."

She nodded. It was all true. The difference between then and now was that she had been willing to settle for what he offered. She had had too much invested in the idea that he was the love of her life not to. Now she knew differently. Jack seemed to be encouraged by her calm acceptance of what he said. "Things have changed. It has to do with the second mistake. I realized pretty quickly that you were too good to lose, that it was worth trying to change if that was what it took to hold on to you."

He edged closer to her across the couch. "I was wrong. I was an ass. I love you and I want us to try again if there is any way you can find it in your heart to give me a second chance and let me try to do a better job of meeting you at least half way."

Sam felt so touched and so sad looking at his handsome face with its stern lines and those puppy dog eyes. It was a huge thing for him to humble himself like this and to put himself out emotionally. She was afraid what would happen if she said no. Would he put up even higher walls he could never bring himself to take down for anyone? "Jack, this means so much to me, the things you've said, the effort it took to come here."

He smiled and took her hand. He was assuming she was going to do as he asked, she realized. "I need to ask you a question. Are you still in love with Sara?"

He blinked. "Huh?"

"Are you still in love with Sara? Tell me the truth."

He was quiet for a long time. "Yeah."

"Has that been part of our problem? I'm not really like her. I make a totally different set of demands on you, don't I?"

"Yeah."

"Have you ever thought about getting back together with her?"

Another long silence stretched out. At last, he said, "Yeah." The expression on his face was very wary now. He still held her hand but it was as if he had forgotten he was doing it.

"Jack, I finally realized that all these years, I've been in love with Daniel. If you felt like I was unhappy with you, it was because I was comparing you to him. It's not that you are better or worse. You are just different. Whatever the person you love most is like, that defines what you are looking for, right?"

Jack looked down and seemed startled to see her hand in his. He dropped it rather like it was on fire. "Daniel. You, a general's daughter, you're in love with Danny Boy."

"There are many ways to be besides being like a general but that isn't even the issue. I mean, come off it Jack. Every time you feel at a disadvantage with Daniel you start talking about him as if he were a bumbling geek and maybe a little effeminate too. The truth is that you know that by the time Daniel went to Atlantis he was as capable of kicking ass as the next man. You've seen him now. He's almost scary; he's that dangerous." Her voice had gotten hard and angry. You didn't criticize someone she loved and just walk away.

Jack had the good grace to look sheepish. "You're right," he gritted out.

"Jack, I was tempted for a moment when you made such a lovely gesture, said such lovely things. I've lost Daniel. He offered me a chance and I turned it down for reasons that I'm not that sure any more were good ones. He told me that he would never offer again. I don't really want to spend the rest of my life alone, but I don't want to subject you to comparisons for the rest of your life that aren't fair to you."

Jack looked at her consideringly. "I guess, thanks for that Sam. I don't feel very grateful right now, but I suspect that as I think about it, I will. And, Sam, the cliché is people talk about staying friends when they break up, but I really want it to happen."

"I do too," she said. They stood. She hugged him and walked him to the door. He hugged her again, very hard, and then he left.

A month later, Sam lost her partner in commiseration. She and Cam had gotten into the habit of having a cup of coffee every day they were on base and reminiscing about Linter. They knew it wasn't healthy. They knew they had to move on. They just couldn't help themselves. The gate activated and there was a code from Linter, following by the arrival of Elspetha, Davi, and Tildi. Each of the women had two heavy bags slung over their shoulders, and Davi, held in the staggering Elspetha's arms, clutched a small backpack. They wore a hunted look and, when Landry, went up to greet them, Tildi fainted into his arms, revealing a blood stained shoulder. "His Grace Danyal was able to hold the gate long enough for us to escape," Elspetha gasped, walking quickly next to the gurney bearing Tildi to the infirmary, "but by now he has fallen back and left the city to Hunan's forces."

Sam asked, distraught, "Daniel, what's happened to Daniel?"

Elspetha said, "Hunan, backed by most of the court who have never appreciated His Grace Danyal as an outsider who was slowly eroding their prerogatives, attempted to stage a coup. He did not count on how much of a hold Danyal has on the people or how emboldened the people have become in a few short years. Danyal's army is far larger, but not as well equipped or organized, composed as it is of ordinary citizens for the most part."

Sam asked again, "Daniel's all right?"

Elspetha looked down at the little boy she held in her arms. "He lives and he fights to keep living for his son."

Cam came barreling around the corner. Sam would never forget the power of that moment when he and Elspetha saw each other. She made a noise, a very primitive animal in a trap noise of despair. They ran to each other and he caught her and the child in a powerful grip. He didn't know any of the circumstances yet but still he said, "It will be all right. I will make it all right for you."

Elspetha went almost boneless and let him bear her and Davi up on his strength alone. The gurney with Tildi kept rolling and Elspetha let it go on ahead without her for the moment while she took refuge against this strong man. Sam stopped where she was, several feet away, and watched them find a center in the chaotic universe in each other. After a few moments, she went to them and offered quietly, "How about Davi comes with me? You need to talk and then you'll want to be with Tildi."

Elspetha looked gratefully at Sam. Davi was looking at her with interest. He had not yet processed that he had lost his father and everything else that was comfortable and familiar except for the two women who loved him most. He went willingly to Sam and she carried him off to her office where she managed to entertain him for a couple of hours until he fell asleep in her lap.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Cam took Elspetha to the infirmary and watched her watching over Tildi. Although she was swaying with exhaustion, she refused to leave the woman's side until Tildi sank into a deep sleep, made all the sounder by some heavy duty pain medication.

Cam put his arm around her and pulled her gently away from the bed. "I need to get Davi," she said. "He will be fretting."

"Sam's very good with kids," Cam said. "We need to talk for a moment first."

She looked up into his face and said, "Ah, yes we do."

He took her to his office and settled her on the small couch. "Can I get you some coffee?"

"I remember coffee," she said, smiling slightly. "I did not like it. I will start trying to learn tomorrow, but for now it is enough just to look at you."

"What are you going to do now? Did Daniel give you any suggestions." She looked away, suddenly shy, and slipped the bracelets on her arm up and down in a nervous gesture. He moved closer and stilled her hand. "Something's wrong. Well, hell, you're a refugee. A lot's wrong, but there's something very specific to do with me I suspect."

"It was all very romantic on Linter. I was all the more interesting because I was unattainable. Here I am, a, how do you say it, 'a fish out of the ocean?'"

"Fish out of water," Cam supplied.

"Yes, a fish out of the water, with no status. I am not so romantic a figure now. I don't want you to feel that you are obligated to … to do anything for me."

Cam shook his head, but he didn't say anything right away. Something was still missing from the picture. She brought up things that hadn't mattered to him in the first place, but was leaving something unsaid. He tilted his head and asked, hesitantly, "You didn't say anything about the unattainable part. You said your estranged husband was very ill. Did he pass away?"

Her head down, she said, "Yes. I just had word three days ago."

"I know I should be sorry, but God help me, all I can think is that you are free now to marry me."

Her head came up rapidly and she stared at him transfixed. "You really want to do that? You are not just sorry for me?"

"If I was sorry for you, we'd do a car wash or something?" She looked puzzled. He waved his hand, "Never mind. I just meant, you're not a charity. You are the most desirable woman I have ever meant, not only for your beauty, but for your strength and courage."

"I will marry then! Oh, I forgot to wait for you to actually ask the question," she said, chagrined.

"We'll just fast forward past that part," Cam said, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her until they were both breathless.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Later, Elspetha and Cam came to her office and found the pensive woman with the soundly sleeping child. They slipped him off her lap very carefully and then Sam went into the corridor with them quietly. "Tell me what happened," she implored Elspetha.

"It was very fast. I know almost nothing. I was in Davi's suite with him and Tildi. Danyal suddenly appeared and handed me one of the bags I carry. It has a fortune in jewels in it so that Davi and I would not be dependent on anyone. He told me I had but moments to put whatever was most important to me, Davi, and Tildi into bags we could carry ourselves. That I should think what I would have if I could never come back. The practical things the jewels would buy. I should take things of the heart. He left but came back even sooner than he had said he would and said now was time. Tildi and I grabbed what we had at that point and Davi and followed him. There were sounds of fighting elsewhere in the palace. We were almost to the gate when some of Hunan's people fell upon us. Danyal and the guards loyal to him fought them off but not before Tildi was wounded. Danyal said he would fall back to Sherpi province and fight the usurpers from there. He gave me documents that make me Davi's guardian. The last thing he said to me was 'Tell Davi even after he forgets me, that his father loved him with everything in him.'"

"Did he…" Sam's voice trailed away.

Elspetha looked very sad. "I cannot lie to you. He gave me no message for you."

In the weeks and months that followed, Sam could only find comfort in Davi's company. Davi found some connection to his father in her and was always delighted to see her and, for her part, every time she looked at him, she saw more and more of Daniel in him. Elspetha doted on her grandchild but she was distracted by the love that she and Cam were free to express for each other at last. Cam was like a little child at Christmas. He was so happy that it was infectious. Every once in awhile, he would feel bad that Daniel was lost to them and very likely fighting for his life, but it could not detract for long from having the woman he loved with him, loving him back. Two months after she had arrived, Lady Elspetha di Murini married Cameron Mitchell. Davi was willing to stay with Sam while Cam took his bride away for a honeymoon.

The doorbell rang while Sam was reading to Davi and she kissed the soft hair on top of his head and left him on the couch while she went to answer it. "Jack, what a pleasant surprise," she said and she meant it.

He broke into a smile when he saw Davi and Davi returned it. Sam was delighted. Davi had become a very solemn child whose smiles were few and far between. "Hey, big guy," Jack said.

"Hey very big guy," Davi returned.

Jack laughed and ruffled the child's hair. "Why do big mens do that?" Davi asked. "Is because lots big men no have hair to mess up?"

"This is Daniel's kid?" Jack asked. "He seems more like mine."

Jack read to Davi using a wonderful repertoire of comic voices and was a huge success immediately. After Davi was in bed, Jack sat with Sam and said, "I'm sorry about what's happened to Daniel. I wish there was some way we could help him, but with his enemies holding the gate, it doesn't seem like there is much we can do."

"I know," Sam said. "Believe me I've run scenarios by the hour. There truly isn't anything."

"I want to be there for you," Jack said. "I also think there are a couple of things you should know." Sam waited him out. "First, Daniel will come back; when hasn't he? But then you knew that." Sam nodded. "What you don't know is that he asked me to be the one to bring the treaty back so that he could give me hell for breaking up with you and urge me to apologize properly and win you back. More than anything he wanted you to be happy. He was just, well too modest I guess, to realize that he's the only one with a prayer of accomplishing it.

Tears pricked the back of Sam's eyes. "Really, Jack, really? You wouldn't be making something like that up just to make me feel better, would you?"

He pulled her into a hug, "No, Sam. It's true." For the first time, since Elspetha, Davi, and Tildi had appeared through the gate, Sam let herself cry without restraint.

When at last she was cried out, clasped in his strong arms, he wiped the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs and said, "Let's do like they did back in the day." He pulled a yellow ribbon from a pocket and said, "Let's tie this around something. It can be inconspicuous but just like Sara kept the faith that I would be back then, we need to keep the faith for Daniel now."

They tied it around a potted Norfolk pine Sam had in the corner of the living room and every morning, Sam touched it and said a prayer for a man on the other side of the galaxy. 


	9. Chapter 9

Daniel stood at the edge of the precipice and looked out across the wide river valley. In the distance, almost to the horizon, stood Hunan's camp. Mani, standing at his elbow, said softly, "Your Grace Danyal, they are not as many as we are. They fight for money and position and we fight for freedom, justice, and you. Hunan cannot win." 

Daniel turned slightly and put his hand on the younger man's shoulder. "You mean he should not win. Casualties mount with every battle and although the people continue to come to us to replace those who have fallen, we have lost strategic positions. We run short of weapons and supplies although I believe Hunan has no idea of how weak we are becoming."

"You are going to accept his offer," Mani said. His voice was resigned. He had already argued with Daniel for hours as had his other top aides.

"If I make peace with him now, we negotiate from a sufficiently strong position that I can protect the people who fought with us. I can protect you. His terms are generous."

"To everyone but you."

"He doesn't seek my life, Mani, only my exile and the abdication of King Davi in his favor." Daniel knew that Mani had no idea that far from being a blow to Daniel this was what he wanted more than anything else. His greatest fear was that he would too easily accept defeat just to escape the burden of this world and free himself and his son. When he had sent Davi, Elspetha, and Tildi through the gate, he had wanted desperately to go with them, but had he gone then, he believed there would have been a purge of all those who had supported him. Now there were thousands dead in his name. If he did not concede soon, the only difference in the death toll would be that it was spread out over 8 months rather than completed in a bloody two or three weeks.

"We must go to meet him. There is less than an hour to the time set," he said and led the way back to the camp.

As he rode down from the heights and across the trackless valley floor on the back of his black stallion, he turned over in his mind what he knew of Hunan once again. The man had arguably the best claim in the murky waters of the blood succession, yet he had actively supported Daniel from the beginning. He was young and, like Davi's mother, was the offspring of a commoner. She had given him a perspective on the excesses of the court that allowed him to see the wisdom of Daniel's reforms.

Daniel had uncovered serious malfeasance in the conduct of the head of Linter's second largest religious sect and acted upon it. Not surprisingly, soon afterwards that sect had developed an alternate interpretation of the prophecy that had earlier won the unprecedented acceptance of Daniel as Regent. This new interpretation agreed with history up to the present, but then predicted utter ruin if Daniel were to found a dynasty. Hunan, a very ambitious man, now had a justification that he could live with for usurping Davi.

There was a small tent that had been set up halfway between the camps. Both men had approached it on horseback, the only appropriately dignified way to arrive at such a meeting, with four of their most trusted commanders. They dismounted and left the others behind as they walked slowly to the tent. They entered together and sat opposite each other. Daniel had assumed all the arrogance that he had allowed to soften at the edges during his months among leaders from outside the cold pride of the court. Hunan was handsome and powerfully built and he lounged opposite Daniel, effortlessly projecting the same strength and confidence that Daniel hoped he was.

"I am glad that you have decided to end the death," Hunan said at last.

"Deaths that lie at your door alone."

Hunan did not dispute the accusation. "Your men understand what will happen next?"

"They do. I trust yours do not?"

"They do not."

Hunan knew that as soon as he had won, the most powerful of his supporters were likely to come after him. Many of them had had their ox gored by one or the other of Daniel's reforms. They would be worried that Hunan was likely to continue them. Hunan's next step would be a preemptive strike against those most powerful families and their replacement from among those that supported Daniel. Knowing and believing this was what had allowed Daniel to decide he could accept the treaty.

Hunan placed the agreement on the table that would among other things formalize Davi's abdication. Daniel did not touch the paper but rather moved it with his pen. Contact poison was not an unusual tactic. He trusted that Hunan did not want to make a martyr of him, but he must continue to play out the role of the Regent. Satisfied, he signed. Hunan signaled for Daniel to stand. Daniel stood and bowed to Hunan, now his liege lord.

Hunan's army made a corridor several miles wide for Daniel and several hundred of his force to return to the capitol and to the gate. On a fine summer morning, Daniel looked at the beauty of Linter for the last time, embraced Mani, the only one of his commanders who had accompanied him, and walked through the gate.

He met a dozen rifles pointing in his face on the other side. Landry wasn't in evidence and the officer of the day was unfamiliar to him. "Identify yourself," the man barked. Daniel was surprised that they would have opened the iris to him if they were this uncertain who he was and whether he was a threat. A frisson of cold ran up his back as he wondered at how close he had come to the iris being closed on him.

"Dr. Daniel Jackson."

"Put your hands in the air," the officer said curtly.

"No," Daniel said. He'd already bowed to the man who had stolen his son's birthright. He wasn't doing submissive any more today.

The soldier vacillated. He was surprised by the refusal, but there were no weapons showing and Daniel's was a familiar name. Shooting him seemed extreme. "Can you prove you are Jackson?"

"Let me see," Daniel said, suddenly quite over it, "we could do on the spot DNA testing. Maybe Sergeant Harriman, General Landry, Colonel Mitchell, Colonel Carter, Dr. Lam, or any number of others—I could go on—would be willing to stroll down here and identify me?"

At that point, Cam came striding rapidly into the gate room. "Put your weapons down," he ordered the squad as he kept moving toward Daniel. He drew Daniel into a hug and said, "There's a little boy who's been needing his father for quite a while."

Daniel submitted numbly to all the testing to clear him as safe to leave the Mountain from a disease stand point and all the questioning to establish whether he was safe to let loose in general society on other counts. A move initiated by the State Department to bring charges against him had been narrowly defeated, but Landry was uncertain that Daniel would be able to work for the SGC again.

Daniel remained at the Mountain for three days. Elspetha and Davi could not be cleared to reenter the Mountain to see him for some arcane reason and so Cam and Elspetha kept it from Davi that his father was back for the time being. Sam was off-world, assisting another SG team and could not immediately return, Jonas and Teal'c had gone to their respective homeworlds for a short visit, and Jack was unreachable for the moment. Daniel felt like a pariah. It was an amazing reversal of fortunes. It surprised him that he didn't mind it very much. He had longed for months to be invisible and left totally alone. Being ascended was looking pretty good in hindsight.

He was immediately issued a BDU so he didn't look quite so much the oddball. The second day, Cam brought him jeans, t-shirts, and a couple of sweaters from the possessions he had left in storage and to which he had given Elspetha legal access when he had sent her to safety. He managed to say please and thank you appropriately, both to Cam and in the cafeteria. He kept telling himself he could be Daniel Jackson again, but he knew there was more to it than good manners.

He stood looking at himself in the small mirror over the sink in the guest quarters bathroom. He had unbraided his hair and it hung around him. There was a pair of scissors in his hand, a hand that was beginning to hurt a little from having tightly grasped the scissors for the past five minutes while he stared at himself. Suddenly they clattered into the sink. He wasn't going to cut it. If Davi remembered him, it was with long hair. In any case, he wouldn't be Daniel Jackson again just by cutting off the hair. It was better to force people to confront the truth than be lulled into making assumptions about him that weren't true.

The tantalizing idea formed in his head of going back through the gate to any of a dozen worlds where he would be welcome. He could never do it; he had a son on Earth. Still, deep inside of Daniel somewhere still lived traces of the boy Danny who had hungered to belong, but never had, through in a series of foster homes. It was tempting to think, just for a moment, that he wouldn't have to deal with the fact that, on top of his career being over, the people he loved didn't really need him any more. Elspetha had Cam. Cam had admitted that they had become convinced that Daniel was dead after six months had gone by. As a result, Cam had begun to think of Davi as his son. They had not let Davi forget Daniel, but the little boy had still begun calling Cam daddy. Believing him an orphan, they hadn't had the heart to try to stop him. Then there was Sam. She should be with Jack now if Jack had listened to him. But, even if she wasn't, he had tested her love for him and it had failed. If someone really loves you, they should love you no matter what. That was his belief. He had kept loving Sha're even when she was inhabited by a monster. Sam had kept on loving Jack for years without encouragement, but she couldn't sustain her feelings for him for a matter of days. What if they were together and he got sick or he had a mental problem or was disabled, would she just walk away? He didn't want to be with someone, did he, whose love was conditional?

He turned from the sink and was about to rebraid his hair when there was a knock at the door. He glanced quickly at his recently acquired watch and confirmed that it was close to 5:00, about the time Cam had said he would try to drop by. He thought about ignoring the knock. He didn't want to see the man who had replaced him in Elspetha's and Davi's lives. There was an unreasonable wave of jealousy washing over him, even though the rational part of him knew he should be grateful that Cam had been there for them when he couldn't be. Remembering what Cam had done made him ashamed and he went quickly to the door, unlocked it, and pulled it open.

Sam stood before him, her hand raised, preparing to knock again. She blushed a little and quickly lowered it. She looked about to cry. She looked good enough to eat. "Oh hell," she blurted out and she grabbed him and hung on as if he was going to try to get away. "I'm so glad you're okay. I've been scared to death that you'd die on Linter, that you'd never come back," she said brokenly, her face pressed against his neck. His arms went around her of their own volition. He felt moisture and realized she was crying. He pulled her roughly into the room and closed the door with his foot, never breaking his hold on her.

At last when he felt her calming in his arms, he gently set her away from him. "You look good, Sam." She looked much better than good, but he reminded himself that he was Daniel Jackson again. He lacked the aphrodisiac of power and wasn't competition for a guy like Jack. No point in setting himself up for a fall with a woman who didn't want him even when he had it all.

"You look REALLY good," she said. Her tone was much bolder than he would have expected from her. She was a confidant woman professionally, but seemed to have never lost her shyness completely with men.

"You like the biker look?" he asked fingering his hair. She reached out and slid a lock of it between her fingers. She was making him nervous because he couldn't read the signals.

"Very interesting," she said and inched a little closer.

"So, how's Jack?" he asked.

"I guess I saw him about a month ago, give or take. He seemed to be in good spirits. I think he's getting back together with Sara."

"What!"

She smiled. "When you sent him to me, I guess I said some things about being with one person when you really love another, about how invidious comparisons get made. I didn't think it was healthy that he had always compared me to Sara or that I had compared him to you."

Years of not tolerating any one crossing him came to the fore and Daniel thundered, "He didn't dare tell you of his conversation with me?"

"You don't scare me," she said. Her tone was even, but the way she enunciated the words, her body language, made it obvious to Daniel that there was something deeper intended.

"I guess I don't scare much of anybody any more," Daniel said ruefully, walked across the room, and sat down, purposefully choosing an arm chair over the small couch.

"You still look pretty dangerous to me," she said softly. She went directly to where he sat and leaned over him, her arms braced on the arms of the chair. Her mouth was inches away from his and blue eyes looked deep into blue eyes. "You told me that if I turned you down, you would never offer again so I guess I'm the one who has to do the asking."

"Sam, I'm in disgrace here. It would be best for your career to distance yourself from me."

She said, "I really don't care, but I think all the good you have done and the skills and abilities you have will take care of any problems in that department. Just give people like General Landry and Cam time to work on it. Now," she said and moved another inch closer, "I would like to quit talking about side issues and talk about what really matters. I love you. Letting you walk out of that cabin was the biggest mistake of my life. At first I kept rewriting the scene so that you gave in to me, said the things I wanted to hear, but that wasn't realistic and, in my heart, I knew it. After the first couple of months, I began to replay it so that I simply said yes, unconditionally. It's what I should have done."

"Sam, I'm not in a place where I can cope with losing anything or anyone else. Be sure."

She answered by closing the distance the rest of the way. There wasn't a lot of finesse in the kiss. It was too hungry and desperately yearning for that. He moaned and pulled her into his lap. His hands roamed all over her body as if making sure she was really there. She squirmed to get closer and he moaned again. "I've dreamed about this," he whispered against her mouth.

She slipped her hand inside his shirt and said, "I'm going to make it better than any dream." She repositioned herself so she was straddling him and resumed the kissing.

Daniel was in pain, longing to breech the barriers of clothing that were between them and find the consummation that they both wanted so urgently. It might have happened if the phone hadn't rung and rung. He didn't answer it, but it made him think just a little. He pulled back and captured her hands. "Stop. There's something I have to say."

She wasn't cooperative but he shook his head and she made a frustrated face and said, "Make it quick."

"Sam, are you planning on marrying me?"

"Are you afraid I'm not going to respect you in the morning?" Her attempt at humor fell on stony ground and she realized now was not the time to be coy. "Yes, I am planning on marrying you."

"I want to wait until after it happens."

"What?"

"Until we're actually married, I can't be sure that something won't go wrong. It would be hard enough to lose you now. I don't want to lose you and have actual memories of being with you to get over instead of just fantasies."

She rolled her eyes. "You're what, 45? Don't you think this is just a little on the missish side?"

"Maybe this whole thing is a bad idea. Are you going to make comments that question my masculinity every time you don't agree with me?"

Sam closed her eyes tightly for a moment. "I'm sorry Daniel. I didn't mean it the way it sounded. If you want to wait, we wait, but the wedding had better be the day after you are released from the Mountain."

When the phone rang again an hour later, Daniel discovered that the caller on both occasions had been Carolyn telling him that he had a clean bill of health to leave the Mountain. As soon as he got off the phone, Sam said, "Let's go," and Daniel found himself reluctantly following her to the elevators and back out into a Tauri night for the first time in four years. He yearned to see his son and Elspetha, but he was more than a little afraid that everything would be changed.

When they pulled up to Cam and Elspetha's house, they heard noise coming from the backyard. Instead of going to the front door, they walked around the house. Cam and Davi were playing catch after a fashion with Elspetha looking on and enthusiastically applauding all of Davi's clumsy catches of Cam's soft pitches of a beach ball. Davi made a particularly good catch and he crowed, "Look at me Daddy. I going to be just like you soon."

Daniel felt like he had been stabbed. He thought about how young the boy was and how long it had been. Would he remember him? Would he hang back shyly and seek refuge with his new father? Sam turned and saw his face in the gathering dusk. She called out immediately, "Hey everybody. Look who I have!"

They all turned and Elspetha lit up and ran to them, almost tripping over a garden hose. She flung herself at him and hugged him tightly, then pulled back immediately to study his face. "Danyal, my Danyal. I have been so afraid. Even after Cam came home and told me, I was afraid you would be changed somehow, hurt." Tears were streaming down her face now and she hugged him again.

When she released him from the second hug, he found himself looking directly at his son. Davi walked slowly, cautiously toward him. "Let me look," Davi said and Daniel understood that Davi wanted him to come down to his level.

He lowered himself to kneel in front of the child who reached out and traced the scar slashing across his eyebrow. Davi's eyes widened and he said in Linteri, "Are you my da?"

"Would that be good?" Daniel asked in the same tongue.

Davi nodded very gravely. "I miss Da very much 'cause I love him," he said, still speaking Linteri.

Daniel opened his arms then and in the language of fathers everywhere, he hugged his little boy, stood, and whirled him around. "Yes, forever I am your da," he said at last.

He shifted Davi to one hip and grabbed Sam with his other arm and drew her toward him. "Sam is going to marry me and we'll all live together. Would you like that?"

"Will Daddy and Grandmother come to visit a lot?"

Daniel nodded, understanding that for Davi, Daddy was simply a name and that Cam would probably be Daddy for years to come while he would be Da. He had no problem with that. "Will Sam be my mommy?" Davi asked.

Daniel nodded again. "Then," Davi said, demonstrating that there was still a bit of being King for him to get over, "you have my blessing and that of all my realm."

Almost five years later, Daniel and Sam stood watching a beautiful sunset from the deck at the back of their house. He turned to her and said, "I have something for you."

"Really?" she said. He loved the way she was always excited when he made some small romantic gesture. The time apart and the near loss they had experienced had managed to keep them from taking each other for granted.

"Close your eyes and don't open them until I tell you," he commanded softly and she immediately complied. He took the length of golden chain with its many small jewels out of his pocket and laid it around her neck. After he fastened it, he tenderly kissed the nape of her neck, put his arms around her, and then said very quietly in her ear, "You can open them now."

She looked down and gasped a little. "You've had this ever since you left Linter?" she asked bemused.

"Since Elspetha left. I didn't trust that I would make it back to give it to you."

"Not that I'm ungrateful, but why wait all this time?" She looked back over her shoulder at him.

"You're still an officer of the United States Air Force and still unable to accept gifts from foreign governments." She started to protest and he silenced her with a finger on her lips. "All these years since I've come back, I've struggled to figure out who Daniel Jackson is. There were good things I learned on Linter as well as a lot of bad habits. I wanted to be the best man I could be resulting from all the experiences I've had. Yesterday, I was in a meeting with that ass from the Pentagon, Colonel Mason." She rolled her eyes in complete understanding. "He was acting just like His Grace Danyal and watching him I realized that I was finally free of everything from which I needed to be freed. I can give this to you now because the Regent is gone."

Sam turned around and put her arms around his neck. "You were always there. Every day I give thanks that I finally understood that." She kissed him very tenderly and Daniel Jackson was whole and complete at last.

The End


End file.
